Second Chances are Fought For
by fg7dragon
Summary: Summoned by Tohsaka Rin in the Fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail War, one Uzumaki Naruto is looking forward to that wish that can grant him a new chance at life. And, if he saves a few girls along the way... well, that just business as usual for him, isn't it? Assassin Caster!Naruto. OP!Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

She though she was ready. She thought that all her preparations were complete. She thought that it was a sure-thing to summon a Saber Class Servant.

Not for the first or last time, Tohsaka Rin thought wrong. Evidence being the utter lack of a Servant in the summoning circle… and an explosion upstairs that rocked the house.

"Damn it!" she shouted in irritation as she ran upstairs, breaking the door open when she found it stuck… only to discover a hole in her roof, a small crater in the floor surrounded by collapsed and crushed furniture… and the perpetrator nowhere in sight. "What the hell happened here?" she wondered in a whisper.

"What are you looking at?" a completely unfamiliar voice whispered.

Stiffening in shock, Rin slowly turned her head to see the person looking over her shoulder.

He was a blonde young man with blue eyes and three whisker-like marks on each cheek. He was maybe three inches taller then her. And he had a headband with a metal plate bearing a leaf-like symbol tied to his forehead.

With a scream, Rin smacked him away and moved to put as much distance as she could between them.

"Hey, what was that for?" the blond demanded in annoyance. "Hmph, if that's the kind of greeting I get, I won't be answering any more of _your_ summons in the future." He crossed his arms with a huff.

Now that she had put some distance between them, she could see him fully, such as how he was wearing a burnt orange and black tracksuit with a red cloak on top, the cloak having a black flame pattern at the bottom.

"…Wait, you said summons… does that mean… that you're my Servant?" Rin demanded.

"Well, yeah." The blond tilted his head. "Shouldn't you know that, given that _you_ summoned _me_?" he pointed out.

"O-Of course I knew that!" Rin snapped, failing to hid an embarrassed blush. "I just expected you to appear before me!"

"Yeah, well, I had nothing to do with that." He shrugged. "Anyway, name's Naruto. Let's get along and win the Grail, yeah?"

"…Right. My name is Tohsaka Rin." Rin released a breath. "By he way, what Class are you? A Saber?" she asked hopefully.

"Nah." Naruto scoffed. "I mean, sure, I can use a sword just fine but I'm just as good with a bunch of other weapons."

"Oh." Rin deflated. "Then what Class are you?"

"I'm an Assassin, of course. What would you expect from a ninja?" Naruto gave her a grin.

"An… Assassin." Rin repeated, feeling as if the sky had dropped on her head.

She had summoned and Assassin, the arguably _weakest_ Servant Class available in the Holy Grail War. Even a Caster would be preferable despite the unspoken agreement between the Tohsaka and their neighbors, the Matou, to avoid summoning the Servant of the Spell if possible. With a Caster, at least she could gain something in terms of knowledge of magecraft even if the Servant was not strong combat-wise, allowing her to further her family's research.

But an Assassin? They were infamous for usually being just above the level of a regular human in terms of power and ability, forcing them to resort to targeting Masters instead of other Servants. She felt ill at that thought. Sure, she was a magus and as a participant in the Grail War she was willing to fight and kill her opponents if necessary, but there was a difference between fighting them with honor with the best among them surviving and stabbing them in the back and running away like a coward.

" _No."_ she decided firmly. _"It won't come to that. I'll just have to be careful about how I make use of Assassin's abilities, and keep him from targeting Masters unless they are really unpleasant people that deserve it. Come to think of it, I haven't even taken a look at his stats."_ She realized and looked up from where she had been gloomily glaring at the floor… to find a large yellow stuffed toad plushie with a note attached to it just where Assassin had last been. "The hell!?" Rin exclaimed as she hurried over and grabbed the note. "You looked deep in thought, so I went to get something to eat." She read out lout, an incredulous look on her face. "But… Servants don't need to eat!" she exclaimed.

 _Timeskip – an hour later_

An hour. It had taken Rin a whole hour to find him, all the while looking over her shoulder and concealing, to the best of her ability, the Command Spells on the back of her hand. She had looked through every restaurant and convenience store still opened at that time of night… only to find him at a ramen stand.

"You… idiot." Rin hissed once she had gotten close enough to him. "What were you thinking, running off on your own like that?" she demanded.

"I can handle myself, no worries." Naruto assured her with a grin… before going back to inhaling the ramen in his bowl.

"You might, but I might not!" she growled.

"Hey, it's not like I left you without any protection." Naruto defended. "Give me some credit here."

"…You place a spell on me? Or was it a Noble Phantasm?" Rin blinked, at the same time examining herself for foreign element and finding none.

"Not _on_ you, exactly, but it is part of a Noble Phantasm of mine." Naruto whispered to her before gesturing to a tree a few meters away. As if on command, the upside-down torso of what looked like another Naruto poked out from among the tree's branches, gave Rin a wave and a grin, before disappearing again.

"Body-Splitting? The Assassin in the previous War had that too. It will be useful for gathering information." Rin remarked, having calmed down not that she knew he had not abandoned her just to stuff his stomach.

"It's Cloning, actually. They are complete copies of me and can use all my abilities, but have less energy than I do and are more fragile." He admitted. "As for information gathering? I already have a few dozen of them running around all over the city."

"A few dozen?" Rin stared. "Just… how many can you make?"

"I don't have any actual limit other than my available energy." Naruto shrugged. "With the energy I currently have, I could cover the entire city with clones that would be able to fight for a few minutes before dispelling."

"So, if one gets destroyed, you can just make more? You won't lose anything?" Rin asked.

"If a **Kage Bunshin** is killed or dispels itself, I get back the energy it had left as well as all its accumulated experience. That includes its memories. It's a jutsu created with information gathering in mind, but it's also great for combat." Naruto explained.

"A jutsu? Didn't you say it was a Noble Phantasm of yours?" Rin scowled.

"It is. It's a jutsu I used so much during my life that it became something of a signature of mine, transcending into a Noble Phantasm when I ascended to the Throne of Heroes. It helps that I was the best suited for the **Kage Bunshin** jutsu ever, more than even its creator." Naruto grinned.

"Wow, so you must have been a super-spy, right?" Rin asked curiously.

"Nah, I actually made hundreds of them sometimes when fighting to overwhelm my opponents." Naruto laughed before finishing his bowl and pushing it away. "I'm done here. The bill, please." He told the old woman in charge of the ramen stand who had been in the back and out of earshot.

It was only then that Rin noticed the large stack of ramen bowls at his side, no less than thirty empty bowls making her pale as she realized she would be the one to pay for it. Then, Naruto proceeded to surprise her by pulling a wallet from somewhere and paying for his meal before leading Rin away from there.

"Where did you get that? I seriously doubt you were summoned with currency of this day and age." Rin demanded.

"Oh, this?" Naruto innocently waved the wallet. "I swiped it from a snotty brat I walked past on my way here. Look, this is him." He showed Rin the ID in the wallet.

"Matou Shinji… you stole Shinji's wallet?" Rin grinned widely. "The trouble of coming all the way here after you? This makes it all worth it."

"Not a friend of yours?" Naruto asked.

"He's a bastard." Rin said bluntly. "He's from the Matou family, the other magus family here in Fuyuki, but he was born without a drop of magical ability himself, as their family's Magic Circuits have been in decline for decades. Because of this he's jealous of anyone who can use magecraft, but that does not prevent him from trying to get me to go out with him every chance he gets. He is somewhat popular with girls at school for his looks and the money his family has, but he's a rather unpleasant person all things considered."

"That's interesting…" Naruto mused. "If he can't use magecraft himself, how does he have a Servant?" he wondered.

"…What?" Rin stopped walking in shock.

"Yeah. I felt some vile energy on him, so I left a clone to keep an eye on him. It reported that a supernaturally beautiful woman with long light-purple hair and wearing a blindfold of sorts materialized to talk to him." Naruto explained.

"Definitely a Servant." Rin agreed. "Anything else you found out?" she pressed.

"She smells like a snake." Naruto frowned. "Reminds me of a snake summoner from when I was alive, but not as… vile as him. Her is more sickly-sweet."

"A Servant that smells of snakes… that has her eyes covered?" Rin asked slowly. "I can't say for certain unless we see one of her Noble Phantasms at work, but she might be Medusa, the Gorgon."

"That so…" Naruto muttered. "Hm, the Grail just gave me Medusa's legend. The Greek Gods really screwed her over, especially that bitch Athena and that rapist Poseidon."

"Not a fan of divinity, I take it?" Rin inquired.

"It's not that I hate gods in general. I just hate the ones that abuse their power over humanity." Naruto explained. "The fact that I died taking down a power-hungry goddess that had enslaved the whole world also contributes to that."

"Wait, you killed a goddess?" Rin stared in shock and no little awe.

"No, she was immortal cut a limb off and it regrew in moments." Naruto shook his head in irritation. "I sealed her away, ripping all her power from her. She got one last hit in, though, hence how I ended up here. But I did get a **Godslayer** skill out of it." he offered.

"I see… that reminds me, I haven't taken a look at your stats yet." Rin commented as they began walking once more.

"Well, you're my Master so you should be able of seeing everything, right?" Naruto pointed out.

"Right. Let's see…" Rin focused prana into her eyes to activated the Master's Clairvoyance… and promptly tripped and fell on her face a couple seconds later.

"Master?" Naruto went to help her up.

"I'm… okay." Rin said in a dazed tone as she got up and proceeded to stare at Naruto with very wide eyes.

"What's the problem?" Naruto frowned.

"Problem? No problem at all. The opposite, really." Rin continued to stare. "I'm just… surprised by how high your stats are… and how many Skills you have… and how may Noble Phantasm you have… and how you were summoned with the capabilities of a Caster as well…"

"Oh yeah, the **Double Summon** skill." Naruto shrugged. "As for having a lot of tricks up my sleeves… well, I worked hard and got help from a lot of people. That, and single-handedly wiping out a few armies to turn the tides of a world war and then taking out a seemingly omnipotent goddess did make me rather famous during my time, I guess, so it added to my legend's power."

"I… see." Rin blinked a few times. "A-Anyway, it's great that you're so strong. I was kind of worried when I summoned an Assassin, but it looks like you won't be at a disadvantage in the Grail War."

"Course not! I'm awesome, after all." Naruto grinned.

"So, Mr. Awesome, how do we deal with Shinji's Servant? What class is she, anyway?" Rin asked.

"He called her Rider… but there's something fishy there." Naruto mused.

"Yeah, I can't believe _he's_ a Master." Rin grimaced.

"I mean he didn't have any Command Spells, like you do." Naruto waved at her hand. "On either hand. And yet, the Servant was obeying him."

"That… makes no sense." Rin said slowly. "A Master needs a set of Command Spells to even summon a Servant, as well as to provided them with prana…" she stopped. "Wait, if Shinji doesn't have any power of his own, how is he keeping Rider around?"

"I can think of a few ways… none of which are pleasant." Naruto said darkly. "What say we go raid the Matou Manor right now? He arrived there a couple minutes ago so my clone could not go inside."

"No, we're not attacking the Matou's!" Rin exclaimed with a little panic.

"…Rin." Naruto used her name for the first time, drawing her attention to his eyes which were narrowed at her. "What aren't you telling me? And why am I sensing a lot of shame and guilt from you when concerning this subject?"

"Look, it has nothing to do with the Grail War…" Rin began.

"You're refusing to attack the base of an enemy Master. It damn well has to do with the Grail War!" Naruto glared. "Now, spill."

"And if I refuse?" Rin glared… only for look to falter at the grin with way too many teeth that she received in response, his eyes narrowed giving him the appearance of a fox.

"You don't want to go there." he told her.

"…Let's get home. I'll fill you in there." Rin gave in. Sure, she could try threatening him with a Command Spell, but between his obscene Mana level, his **Independent Action** skill at A+ rank and his **Magic Resistance** at A+ rank as well, it was rather doubtful a single Command Spell would be enough, and even so its effects would not last long and ultimately serve to only piss him off.

 _Timeskip – half hour later_

"So, let me get this straight." Naruto said slowly once Rin had spilled her guts to him regarding the Matou matter. "Because he didn't need a second heir, your father decided to give your younger sister Sakura away to the Matou family, despite their suspicious reputation and the unpleasant rumors about their magecraft, so that Sakura could learn the Matou magecraft since he would not teach her the Tohsaka magecraft… without even asking the girl if she wanted to or if she even gave a damn about magecraft in the first place?"

"…Yes." Rin muttered.

"And you spent the past decade pretending she did not exist, leaving her in the care of an old man that can't still be human after two centuries and with the brat I met earlier that hates Sakura for having power while he doesn't and essentially getting what would have normally been his birthright handed to her, and outsider." He continued.

"Yes." Rin's head sank lower.

"I see."

She winced at the sheer disapproval he could feel radiating off him.

"Tomorrow after school, I will kidnap Sakura and scan her mind for what the past decade her been like for her with the Matou family. And, if I don't like what I find, the Matou will regret being born." He stated.

"You can't just…!" Rin began to protest.

"Rin, I fought and defeated the progenitor of all supernatural power on this world. If you think I would shy away from what may seem like a political mess, you are very wrong." Naruto scoffed. "I have gone head to head with the post powerful and influential people of my time, people that could cause to have maps redrawn just from waving their swords. You think I give a flying fuck about whoever supports the Matou at this Clock Tower place you seem to care about so much? No, I do not. I have always followed my own morals in what I do and not bowed to peer and political pressure. And that is what I will always do. End of discussion."

 _Timeskip – Next Day_

Naruto was not happy. Not at all. His plan to kidnap and examine Matou Sakura for whatever 'magecraft training' she was put through had been delayed, and he did not like it one bit. He did not know why for sure, but his gut was telling him there was something seriously wrong with the seemingly pleasant purple haired girl. The aura of despair she gave off as well as the intense vile energy coming from her that was yet not her own did not soothe his worries any.

Unfortunately, like it or not, this took precedence. Apparently, Rider had set up a number of magical sigils around the school grounds and between the scent of blood of those sigils and Shinji's inability to provide Rider with prana, he and Rin had a few guesses on what they were meant to do, especially given Medusa's legend as a monster that devoured countless humans and even her two sisters after a point.

Which meant that rather then doing what he had planned, they had to go around destroying every sigil they could find in case Shinji managed to activate it before Naruto could take out Rider.

"So? How are we doing this?" Naruto inquired as he glanced at the large red drawing.

"I'm not sure… what do you think?" Rin mused. "Destroying the structure that it is on would surely work, but I would rather not wreck the school if it can be avoided."

"Hm, let's see here…" Naruto crouched and placed a hand on the sigil, probing it with his own energy. "Yeah, our guess was right. It's some sort of bounded field that harvests the life of all within it." he scowled before with a small pulse of energy black patterns spread from under his hand and encroached on the red sigil… before they both glowed and faded away. "Done. And just in time, too." He got back up and turned towards the side.

Following his line of sigh, Rin flinched at the sight of a blue-haired red-eyed man wearing a blue bodysuit that was partially armored and who had a red spear resting on his shoulder.

"Yo." The Servant that was clearly Lancer greeted.

"Hey there; nice weather we're having, right?" Naruto greeted with a friendly grin.

"Yeah, su – **Gah!** " Lancer began to sarcastically replied when Naruto suddenly materialized within his guard, grabbed his face and threw his down from the top of the school building they were one down into track field in the courtyard.

"My clone will give you a lift." Naruto said shortly before jumping after his opponent.

"Eh?" Rin blinked before noticing the grinning **Kage Bunshin** at her side. "Oh."

Down below, Lancer was looking at Naruto with both annoyance and interest.

"So, if that overcompensating spear is anything to go by, you're the Lancer of this Grail War." Naruto commented.

"Why you… you sure got a mouth on you, kid." Lancer narrowed his eyes. "What are you? A Saber?"

"Nah, just a lowly Assassin. Do go easy on me, will you?" Naruto grinned back.

"Hm, you were sneaky enough to get into my guard without me noticing, so I guess I can see it..." Lancer thought it over "But what kind of Assassin wears orange?" he demanded.

"The awesome kind that can blend in while wearing anything!" Naruto declared grandly. "Now, prepare to witness my hidden power!" he declared grandly.

"A Noble Phantasm already?" Lancer instantly tensed and prepared to get the hell out of the way of whatever the blond threw at him… and then blinked in shock when something grabbed hold of his leg and pulled him down into the ground until only his head was left visible.

Next to him, another blond Assassin phased out of the ground with a satisfied grin.

"…You sneaky bastard." Lancer sounded, grudgingly impressed.

"Thank you, thank you, I'll be here until I get the Grail." The second Naruto mock-bowed. "You… not so much." He drew a kunai. "No hard feelings, neh?"

Before he could stab Lancer into the temple and end the battle, the ground around Lancer exploded, blasting both the earth and the clone standing on it back and causing it to dispel.

"Hoh, looks like you've got a few tricks up your sleeves as well." Naruto grinned. "Good, it would have been boring to end things like that!"

Without another word, they dashed at each-other kunai clashing against spear time and again, Naruto managing to score a few scratches on Lancer but nothing that would not heal with a quick application of prana from his Master.

Naruto was about to switch gears and had allowed himself to be pushed back in order to gain some distance so he could use his Ninjutsu… when a sound was heard from the side, causing both him and Lancer to look to see a teenager about Rin's age, with auburn hair and amber eyes looking on in shock… before he turned and ran.

And Lancer was in pursuit.

"Master?" Naruto glanced at Rin who had also seen what had happened.

"After them, don't let Lancer kill that guy!" Rin said urgently.

"Got it!" Naruto flickered away. It was not hard to find the boy in the empty and silent school, but apparently Lancer had found him first given that he was bleeding from a hole through the chest and heart. _"Rin, I found him… but you're not going to like it."_ Naruto told her via their telepathic link.

The Tohsaka magus arrives soon after and dropped to her knees next to the boy.

"Is he someone important to you?" Naruto asked.

"He's… He's Sakura's only real friend. She has feelings for him." Rin absently replied as she examined him. "This sort wound, I can't heal… no, I can, but I would have to sacrifice my father's jewel…" she pulled the large ruby pendant and stared at it in consideration for a few moments before holding it over the wound where it began to glow…

Until Naruto grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"What?" Rin demanded angrily.

"I can heal him." Naruto said simply, placing his right hand onto the wound. Unseen by Rin, a white circle appeared on his palm before golden light flooded the wound and mended the flesh, as good as new.

"…Oh. I forgot you're a Caster as well." Rin sighed in relief.

"You do realize that according to the rules, you're suppose to hide the war form bystanders, right? And dispose of them if they witness it?" Naruto checked.

"Yeah… what of it?" Rin asked defensively.

"Nothing, I'm not really one for following those kinds of rules either." Naruto grinned.

"Heh." Rin chuckled. "Let's get out of here and track down Lancer." She decided.

 _Timeskip – an hour later_

"You know, Master, something just occurred to me." Naruto admitted.

" _What is it?"_ Rin asked telepathically, unable to speak properly due to the wind blowing in her face as she held on for dear life to Assassin as he traveled at speeds that made him look like a blur. _"Did you figure out something about Lancer's identity?"_

"Well, no, but it's about him." Naruto shrugged. "It's just… if he tried to kill that guy once being a witness to the Grail War… won't he do it again when he finds out he survived?"

"… _Damn it!"_ Rin groaned. _"Now that I think about it, he seems to be heading straight for Emiya-kun's house!"_

"Emiya- _kun_ , is it?" Naruto grinned. "My, it seems your sister is not the only one fond of him, eh?"

" _S-Shut up and pick up the pace!"_ Rin mentally shouted at him.

"Yes, Master." Naruto chuckle. "Hold on!" he warned her before increasing his speed even further.

 _Emiya Estate_

It had not been a good night for Emiya Shirou. First, he had to return to school when he remembered when he was halfway to his house that he had forgotten his school bag. The, he witnessed a fight between two men that were clearly not human, upon which he got chased down and killed by one of them for witnessing their fight… or at least he thought he had been killed, only to wake up with not a scratch on him, yet with his shirt ruined and soaked in drying blood.

Then, to top it all off, once he had gotten home and changed out of those dirty clothes, the blue-haired spearman showed up again to apparently finish the job and chased him out of the house, through the backyard and into the shed here he practiced his magecraft…

…Only for luck to finally shine upon him as from a magic circle glowing blue that he had never noticed before a petite armored blonde wielding an invisible weapon appeared and after a quick exchange drove of the man that had identified himself as Lancer.

Then, before he could get any explanations about what in the world was going on, the girl – Saber – announced there was another 'Servant' approaching and had run off. Quickly following her, he arrive at the sight of Saber trying to attack a blond about his age who was holding onto what must be Saber's invisible weapon without apparent difficulty no matter how Saber strained to push it towards him – or pull it out of his grip, for that matter. And, watching with vague amusement from behind him, was a ruffled-looking…

"Tohsaka?!" Shirou exclaimed in shock.

"Good evening, Emiya-kun." Rin greeted with a strained smile, her eyes falling onto his left hand where a red marking lay. "Aren't you going to invite us in? Then, you can explain how you are apparently a magus that has been living in my city without my knowledge and permission." Her eyes narrowed. "And how you managed to summon a Saber for the Grail War."

"Eh? Er, sure, come in." Shirou said after blinking a few times.

"Master, they are enemies and…" Saber began.

"Oh, put a lid on it." Naruto rolled his eyes, finally letting go of the invisible weapon causing Saber to stumble as she had been pulling on it. "If we wanted the kid dead, we would have just let him bleed out back at the school."

"You're the ones that saved me?" Shirou exclaimed.

"Yeah. Gorged-out hearts don't heal on their own, you know." Naruto remarked dryly.

"If you have indeed saved my Master, I am willing to postpone our battle." Saber finally lowered her sword.

Fifteen minutes later, Rin seemed ready to tear her hair off in frustration. Emiya Shirou, despite having managed to summon the Saber Class Servant she desired so much, was a complete hack as a magus, not even third-rate by most standards given that he could not even use the simple restructuring spell, a variation of _**Alteration**_ , to fix the damage to his wall.

Saber's summoning had apparently been just a stroke of luck, and it had not even been done right as she was apparently stuck in physical form, meaning that it would consume more prana to maintain her presence in this world.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do." Rin decided. "I'll take you to the Church so you can speak with the priest there. He's the supervisor of the Grail War, so you need to register your participation with him."

"Really? You didn't go there after you summoned me." Naruto pointed out.

"I'm a Tohsaka. As one of the founding families of the Grail War, we have a Master spot reserved for every War." Rin shrugged. "And, given that I'm the only Tohsaka left, it was obvious I would be a Master. Plus, I've known Kotomine for years now, and I let him know that I've summoned my Servant over the phone this morning."

"I see, I see." Naruto nodded. "And it would be best if the newbie got an explanation from the supervisor in case he does not trust you, being another participant and all."

"That would be acceptable." Saber agreed.

"Well, okay." Shirou nodded in confusion.

A few minutes later, Naruto was disguising his amusement quite poorly as he looked at the disgruntled Saber who had been 'disguised' with a yellow raincoat that covered much of her body.

"Assassin. Shut up." Saber grumbled before turning towards Shirou "Master, is this really necessary? This is undignified!"

"Sorry… but you would draw a lot of attention if you walk around town in your armor." Shirou apologized.

"And while you could take it off, it's not exactly a safe time to walk around unprotected in the middle of the night." Naruto added.

"It's your fault, Emiya-kun." Rin shrugged. "You _did_ mess up her summoning."

"I wasn't trying to summon Saber in the first place… not that I'm not happy she showed up." Shirou quickly added to a grateful look at the Servant of the Sword.

"Say, Saber…" Naruto began "That invisibility around your sword…"

"What of it?" Saber narrowed her eyes.

"I can tell that it's wind-based." Naruto continued. "Can't you, I don't know, expand it to cover your whole body so you won't have to wear that thing?"

"…" Saber paused mid-step as she considered it. "Perhaps, but I will refrain from doing so. It will place a greater strain on my Master's prana reserves, which I would rather not do so early in the War." she concluded.

"Fair enough." The male blond shrugged.

They eventually arrived at the Church where Saber elected to wait outside and stand guard, trusting Naruto not to harm her Master as he followed Shirou and Rin inside.

During the entire course of the discussion between Rin, Shirou and Kotomine Kirei, Naruto's eyes had narrowed more and more. It was not due to Kotomine not acting like he would have expected a priest to. It was not even due to him essentially emotionally blackmailing Shirou to participate in the Grail War to help prevent unnecessary casualties.

No, it was entirely due to the sheer evil Naruto's **Negative Emotions Sensing** skill allowed him to feel emanating from Kotomine Kirei. He had felt something similar within Matou Sakura, but in her it was distilled and inactive. In this man, this so-called priest that Rin rightly called fake, it was wrapped around him like a cloak and Kotomine seemed all too comfortable with it.

"Is there something wrong, Assassin?" Kotomine asked after he had convinced Shirou to participate despite seemingly offering him a way out via sanctuary in the Church.

"I don't know, you tell me." Naruto shot back. "Care to tell me why do you have Command Spells on you?" he decided to ask, making it look like that was why he was suspicious.

"Ah, you mean these." Kotomine nodded in understanding, lifting his sleeve to reveal over a dozen Command Spells covering his right arm. "Not to worry, these are merely inactive Command Spells left over from previous Grail Wars. At times, the supervisor may offer one or more as a reward to the Masters in exchange to helping ensure the secrecy of the Grail War. My father did so in the last war when the Caster summoned a monstrous creature that threatened the security of not just the War but Magecraft as a whole."

"I see. For a second there, I though you might have your own Servant." Naruto laughed.

"Of course not, the Church Supervisor must remain neutral." Kotomine chuckled.

Naruto did not miss how the man spewed lie after lie, but said nothing and followed the two Masters outside and then away from the Church.

"I want you two to stay as far away as possible from Kotomine." Naruto said seriously once he deemed they were far enough.

"Eh, what do you mean?" Shirou blinked in confusion.

"That man _reeks_ of evil." Naruto said darkly. "I've met incarnations of hatred itself in my time that did not feel _nearly_ as foul as that man. More than that, he's lying though his teeth, both about himself being a neutral party in the War and about having a Servant of his own."

"Are you certain?" Rin demanded.

"Positive, I have a skill that lets me feel negative emotions from others. Using it as a lie detector is easy." Naruto said grimly.

"This is troubling." Saber frowned.

"The fact that he has over a dozen extra Command Spells makes him incredibly dangerous." Naruto added. "Even if his Servant has a very energy-consuming Noble Phantasm, he can have it used again and again just by sacrificing those Command Spells. If used right, he could end the whole War within a few hours, maybe less."

"…he also has experience as a Master." Rin added. "He was the Master of Assassin in the last Grail War, but it was killed early on in the War."

"At least he can only use those extra Command Spells on his own Servant." Naruto muttered. "Kotomine needs to stay at the Church, supposedly to be able to offer asylum to other Masters, so if we manage to take out his Servant, whichever it may be, they will be useless to him."

"So, the question remains, which is his Servant?" Saber spoke up.

"Well, Saber and Assassin are out for obvious reason. Rider and Berserker as well as they were summoned by the other two founding families, I found out by gathering information since I've been summoned." Naruto mused. "That leaves Caster, Archer and Lancer. Hopefully, it's Lancer."

"Why's that? And, are you sure the Einzbern summoned Berserker?" Rin asked.

"Yeah, I saw a cute little girl that matches what you've described as an Einzbern homunculus talking to an Astralized Berserker." Naruto nodded. "As for Caster and Archer, they are working together and based up at the temple."

"Thank you for the compliment, Assassin." A young female voice spoke up from nearby, causing them to stop and turn to face the source. Sure enough, there was the Einzbern Master Naruto had just described wearing a purple coat with a matching hat, smiling at them. "Hello, Oni-chan." She greeted, looking at Shirou. "Nice to meet you. My name is Illya."

 **A.N.: First chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

"My name is Illya." The young albino girl introduced herself.

"Eh?" Shirou blinked.

"You'll understand who I am after I tell you that my full name is Illyasviel von Einzbern, won't you?" she smirked.

"So, this is the Einzbern Master." Rin tensed.

"That's right." Illya confirmed. "But… there's something I have been looking forward to more than obtaining the Holy Grail. And that is…" her smile turned dangerous "To get to kill you, Oni-chan." She declared.

"You… know me?" Shirou asked in confusion.

"You know, I have been waiting anxiously for this day to come for a long time now." Illya stated. "That is why I will make sure to kill you _gently_ , Oni-chan." She grinned. **"Come! Berserker!"** she shouted.

At her side, a giant of a man with dark skin and a wild mane of dark hair that wore only an armored skirt materialized, radiating pure death and madness, causing Rin and Shirou to freeze in place.

" _This guy… it's almost on par to what I could feel from Killer B when he used the_ _ **Blood Shroud**_ _!"_ Naruto thought.

" _ **I would not give him that much credit, Naruto."**_ The portion of Gyuki, the Hachibi, within the blond ninja commented.

" _Maybe, but I might need some help with him."_ Naruto admitted. _"Kurama?"_

" _ **Go for it, Naruto."**_ Kurama, the Kyubi no Kitsune, agreed to lend his power.

"What's wrong?" Illya taunted. "If you're just going to stand there, we're just going to take the initiative and strike first, you know! **Go, Berserker! Crush them all!"**

With a deafening roar, Berserker lunged.

"Master, stand back!" Saber exclaimed as she moved to intercept Berserker's descending crude stone axe-sword with her own invisible blade and then engaged the Servant of Madness in battle, though slowly being pushed back by his superior strength. _"Master, now! Hurry!"_ she gave Shirou a significant look during a lull in the fight…

…which went completely over the boy's head.

Fortunately, however, Rin _did_ get the hint and grabbed Shirou's hand, beginning to pull him away and run.

"We're going to have to run away now, Emiya-kun." She told him as she dragged him off.

"Eh, what?" Shirou exclaimed. "Wait, Tohsaka! We can't just leave her alone and run away by ourselves!" he protested.

"You fool, don't you understand?" Rin shot back in annoyance. "We're just getting in the way by standing there! Saber is fully capable of finding an opportunity to retreat by herself. What we need to do is retreat temporarily and think of some kind of countermeasures against Berserker. If we don't do that, we have no chance of winning this battle!"

"That might be so… but…!" Shirou began stubbornly.

"Where are you two trying to sneak off to?" Illya asked in amusement as she appeared in their path. "It's pretty thoughtless to just leave me behind by myself, isn't it? Were you planning on having a strategic meeting or something? Or could it be that you've already come up with a great idea?" she mused. "But it won't matter. You won't defeat Berserker either way." She declared. "I mean, he is Heracles after all. The greatest hero of Ancient Greece!"

" _Heracles?"_ Rin's eyes widened in panic.

"Servants are the spirits of heroes who have been summoned to the present world. You know this as well, don't you, Rin?" Illya stated. "The extent of their existence here as spirits is influenced by the magnitude of recognition they have with the people of this time. Therefore…" Illya grinned "If the hero's name is widely known across the world, that hero's strength will be increased as a Servant! That is why there is no one who can match up to my Heracles! Your Saber and Assassin are nothing more than small fry to him!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, I beg to differ." Naruto stated as he appeared behind Illya… with a kunai at her neck.

"Assassin? I thought you were helping Saber with Berserker!" Rin exclaimed in surprise.

"Nah." Naruto shook his head. "She's a knight, you can tell just by looking at her armor. Honor and chivalry and all that, like samurai. She's more likely to attack me if I interfere in her fight."

"Even so…" Rin frowned.

"Besides, just because I agreed not to let the boy die and not attack Saber tonight, that doesn't mean I'm going to step in and save her." Naruto added. "If it was when I was alive and she was also alive, things would have been different, but we're both Servant's here. If she dies, nothing will change. Merely one less Servant for me to take out to obtain the Grail." He shrugged. "Speaking of which…" he turned his attention to Illya who had been eyeing the kunai warily, especially the coating of white energy that put her on edge. "I have something to ask of you."

"To order Berserker to die?" Illya's eyes narrowed.

"Nah. If Saber doesn't kill him, I'll fight him head on myself. I may be an Assassin, but that doesn't mean I'm a coward. I have a **Bravery** skill for a reason, you know." Naruto assured her.

"Huh? That's… surprising." Illya blinked in confusion. "What do you want, then?"

"The Grail." Naruto smiled. "Specifically, the Lesser Grail that the Einzbern are supposed to provide for each War. I'm aware it's useless to me until the other six Servants are dead, but I would fill much more comfortable if it was in my hands, given that, from what I've read in Rin's father's journal, the reason the Third Grail War was another failure was due to the Lesser Grail being damaged at some point."

"Then, it would be best to remove this knife from my neck." Illya smiled thinly.

"Why? Because you would refuse to answer?" Naruto tilted his head.

"Because **I** am the Lesser Grail." Illya replied. "The Einzbern agreed with you, that the Lesser Grail should be kept safer, so rather than an inanimate object, starting from the last War the Lesser Grail was a person, capable of defending herself."

"…Irisviel von Einzbern." Naruto said in realization. "So that was he role in the last War, what with one Emiya Kiritsugu being the actual Einzbern Master."

"Dad was what?" Shirou exclaimed.

Everyone turned to eye him curiously.

"You didn't know?" Illya asked in surprise.

"The Magus Killer was your father?" Rin asked in shock.

"You really are completely clueless of everything in the supernatural world, aren't you, kid?" Naruto shook his head.

Before any further conversation could take place, an explosion occurred and when the dust settled they say Saber in a small crater.

" **Saber!"** Shirou shouted in panic.

"Master…please… run away…" Saber uttered as she began pushing herself up.

It would not be in time, however, as Berserker approached to finish the job, his axe-sword raised…

Only for Shirou to jump in front of Saber to shield her at the last moment, causing Berserker's strike to tear a chunk from the left side of his torso.

"Eh… what… is this…?" he wondered out loud, looking down on the blood pouring on his left hand. _"Ah, I see… I tried to push Saber away from Berserker's blow…"_ he realized as he collapsed in Saber's arms.

" **Master!"** Saber screamed in shock and panic. **"Master, why have you done this? Master!?"**

"Emiya-kun!" Rin exclaimed in shock.

"You know… for someone getting exactly what she wanted, you don't look that happy with this." Naruto whispered to Illya who was staring in incomprehension at the scene.

"It's… not what I expected." Illya admitted.

"Revenge is what guides you, isn't it?" Naruto mused. "Yes, I recognized that look in your eyes, that desperate drive. I saw it too many times in the eyes of my best friend, my brother in all but blood. He threw everything away in his quest for revenge on his older brother, dedicated his entire life to it since he was a seven-year-old kid… and when he finally achieved it, he was left empty, with almost nothing and it drove him to madness, further increasing his hatred… because that was all he had left." Naruto sighed sadly as he remembered Sasuke, glancing at his left palm where the black moon sigil lay. He had automatically received it upon Sasuke's death at Kaguya's hands, a safety measure left by the Sage of Six Paths to ensure that even if one of them died, the other would still have the tools to seal the Rabbit Goddess. "Of course, finding out after he murdered his brother that everything he had done was for the sake of his little brother, to protect him… well, that didn't help his mental stability any." He admitted.

"What are you trying to tell me?" Illya demanded.

"That getting revenge… tends to leave you empty." Naruto shrugged. "Tell me… when the Grail is completed, what will happen to you?"

Illya looked away.

"I see." Naruto frowned in displeasure.

"Naruto, do something!" Rin called out in panic.

"No." the blond said simply.

"What?" Rin demanded.

"He either has a death wish, or he's too stupid to live." Naruto looked hard at the bloodied teenager. "That boy has no self-preservation whatsoever. If I had to guess, it's from the survivor's guilt of living through the Great Fuyuki Fire he an Kotomine spoke about in the Church. If so, he's going to allow himself to be endangered again and again throughout this war. I'm not going to babysit him just to make sure doesn't jump in front of _another_ Servant's attack if he survives here." he said firmly.

"B-But…!" Rin stuttered, glancing towards her Command Spells.

"Plus, he's going to be fine." Naruto added, as an afterthought. "If you look at his wound, you'll see it's slowly closing."

"Eh?" Rin did so and, sure enough, the massive wound was healing.

"Now, with that out of the way, and with Saber to busy to look after Mr. Suicide over there…" Naruto moved away from Illya and towards Berserker. "I finaly get a shot at Berserker here."

"You actually want to fight Berserker head-on?" Illya asked incredulously. "What kind of stupid Assassin are you?"

"One your Heracles is very badly matched against." Naruto cracked his knuckles. "After all, Godslayers like me tend to have a certain advantage over Divine beings, even just Demigods like him." He declared.

"Naruto, stop revealing your secrets, damn it!" Rin admonished in annoyance, having calmed down now that she knew Shirou will survive this.

"You're one to talk, using my name freely like that." Naruto shot back.

"Your name is Naruto?" Illya asked. "I've… never heard of you." She admitted grudgingly.

"I would be very surprised if you did. I lived in the era before what you call the Age of the Gods." Naruto shrugged.

"Before the Age of the Gods?" Illya asked incredulously. "Than… nobody knows about you! You fame boost should be near zero!"

"True. Good thing I always relied on my own power first rather than power boosts, eh?" Naruto grinned. "Of course, since Servants are connected to Akasha through the Grail, they can get information on the other Servants once they have a name… shame you have an insane Berserker then, eh? All he would tell you is gibberish."

"You…!" Illya huffed in annoyance.

"Now, let's do this!" Naruto disappeared and so did Berserker as he was punched away with such strength he was blasted into the sky.

"What the…?!" Illya gaped as Heracles, her Berserker that weighted over 300kg, was smacked away like a fly.

Everyone there still conscient watched from the ground as far away and high into the sky, where Berserker had been sent and where Naruto pursued, there was a sudden flash of golden light that lasted for a few seconds before it died out, at which point Illya gasped in shock and horror.

"N-No…! Berserker!" she whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

"I'm afraid he's dead, little lady." Naruto admitted as he landed in a crouch a few meters from them, the asphalt cratering under him.

"But… he had twelve lives! He was immortal!" Illya protested.

"I noticed, he was already healed by the time I caught up to him." Naruto admitted.

 _Flashback_

" _What the hell?!"_ Naruto wondered as he reached the same altitude as Berserker and noticed that the caved-in chest that had crushed his heart had already completely healed. _"Even I don't heal that fast! This is on par with the restoration ability of the_ _ **Edo Tensei**_ _!"_ he realized, grimacing as even as they began reaching the highest point of their 'flight' Berserker turned to glare bloody murder at him. _"Well, if he's anything like the_ _ **Edo Tensei**_ _then I have something that negates that kind of regeneration."_ He decided **"Six Paths Senjutsu!"** he declared, not worried of being overheard all the way up there, not even by Berserker who had the wind in his ears.

In response to his words, that particular Noble Phantasm activated, allowing him to enter the **Six Paths Sage Mode** that changed his attire to black pants and undershirt with a golden jacket of chakra on top, his body also energized by the **Six Paths Senjutsu** chakra, and with ten black orbs manifesting behind him like a halo.

At his mental command, two of the orbs flew at Berserker who futilely tried to block with his stone weapon only for the two **Truth-Seeking Balls** to make holes through the thing and continue on not even slowing down. One went through Berserker's chest, destroying his heart, while the other turned into a disk that beheaded him.

Naruto watched warily, prepared to used the remaining eight **Truth-Seeking Balls** to defend himself if the attack proved insufficient even as he mentally recalled the two he had used, but to his relief the body of Berserker broke apart into prana and faded, signifying his final death.

 _Flashback end_

"But that did not make him immortal, merely very durable. Trust me, I've fought immortals before, I know the difference." Naruto told her.

"No way…" Illya collapsed.

"Why don't you take a nap now, hm?" Naruto suggested as he appeared behind her in a burst of speed and upon pinching a nerve cluster in her neck, knocked her out.

"What are you going to do with here?" Rin inquired.

"You heard what she said, she's the Lesser Grail. We can't leave her running around unsupervised." Naruto explained. "After we've dropped off Saber and the idiot at his place, we're taking Illya here back to your house."

"Wait just a minute there, Assassin…!" Saber began.

"Of course, if you think you'll have better luck against me than you did against Berserker, feel free to try to claim her from me now, Saber." Naruto challenged.

Gritting her teeth, Saber back down. As much as it galled her, fighting someone that had apparently killed Berserker twelve times in half the time it had taken Berserker to beat her into the ground was more than merely unwise, especially with her Master still nearby and in mortal peril.

"Very well, we shall fight another day, Assassin." Saber scowled.

"I'm busy tomorrow, so maybe the day after?" Naruto offered.

"We shall see." Saber narrowed her eyes.

It was a tad difficult to get the bloodies Shirou home without being seen, but they managed it and then Naruto all but dragged Rin back to her mansion.

"What's the big idea, Naruto?" Rin demanded.

"We were being watched." Naruto said flatly. "And, since this person seemed more interested in Saber, I decided a tactical withdrawal was in order."

"What?" Rin asked in surprise.

"My clones saw him watching from afar. He seemed intrigued that I managed to take out Berserker so quickly, but it was far enough even for him to see just how I did it so he returned his focus to Saber. I doubt he will attack her, though. The way he looked at her seemed… possessive." Naruto concluded.

"Who was it? What did he look like?" Rin asked even as he set Illya down on a couch.

"Unless I am very much mistaken, he is the Archer your father summoned for the last Grail War, Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes." Naruto revealed. "He certainly matches the description, both in the power he holds and his appearance, even if he is not wearing his golden armor at the moment."

"What? There's no way! Even with **Independent Action** skill that all Archer's have, he can't have survived a decade without a Master!" Rin exclaimed.

"Well, given that after the battle he headed towards the Kotomine Church, he might have had a Master all this time, especially since Kotomine was working with your father in the last War. Which also explains which Servant Kotomine controls." Naruto admitted.

"I… see." Rin frowned but nodded slowly. "Gilgamesh had a high **Independent Action** skill. After my father was killed here, he probably went and formed a contract with Kirei."

"You father was killed here?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Yes, the bounded fields were breached and he was found dead in his study. Killed from behind." Rin scowled. "And given that Emiya Kiritsugu is known to be capable of doing such things and that he survived in the war at least long enough to destroy the Grail…"

"Wait, wait, hold on!" Naruto explained. "He destroyed the Grail?" he asked incredulously.

"The one of the Fourth War of course." Rin explained. "Don't worry, the Einzbern provide new one each War."

"Yes, it's Illya here this time." Naruto nodded. "But, I meant _why?_ " he demanded. "If he was close enough to destroy it, he must have been close enough to claim it! Who in their right minds would throw away a wish like that?"

"I don't know, but the aftermath of this was the Great Fuyuki Fire. The contents of the Grail spilled and set the surroundings on fire, killing everyone in a few blocks radius. It's why this War is happening so soon; the prana accumulated in the Grail was not dispersed like it normally would, merely spilled back into the Ley Lines and fed back into the Grail System." Rin explained. "At least, that's the best conclusion I could reach."

"Something is seriously fishy here." Naruto scowled. "Emiya Kiritsugu used every dirty trick in the book to win the Grail. Had a substitute pose as his Servant's Master, bombed a hotel to kill the enemy Master living on the top floor and who knows what else, and then he throws the Grail away? I need answers. And I need them now, damn it! **Rinnegan!** " his eyes flashed, turning purple with rings in a ripple-like pattern and three black tomoe on each of the innermost two rings. He turned toward Illya, pulled her hat off and grabbed her head with his right hand. _**"Human Path."**_ He calmly uttered as he grasped Illya's soul… and his eyes widened at the wealth of knowledge that came from it.

It was not just Illya's own accumulated memories. No. Rather, it was all the memories of every Justeaze model homunculus that had been coined prior to Illya's birth, starting with the original, Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, the Holy Maiden of Winter that had helped found the Holy Grail War and became the very core of the Grail System.

Much to Naruto's disappointment, however, Illya did not know why Kiritsugu, her father, had destroyed the Grail, and largely she did not care. Rather, she hated the man for never coming back for her and taking her from the clutches of the Einzbern where she suffered a decade of operation after operation, each shortening her lifespan in exchange for making her a more suitable Lesser Grail and Master for the Grail War. As things stood, even if she survived the War, she did not have more than another year to live. She also hated Kiritsugu for adopting Shirou, seemingly replacing her with the boy.

What's more, Naruto also learnt of the true workings of the Grail and the Greater Grail System. How the Grail would materialize upon absorbing the power of six Servants, but in rare cases some Servants would be more powerful, enough to substitute another sacrifice, something that had happened in the last war when the Grail materialized when the Archer and Saber, Gilgamesh and Artoria Pendragon – who also happened to be the Saber in this War also, explaining Gilgamesh's interest – were still alive and fighting over it. And how the true purpose of the Command Spells was to force the Servant to commit suicide, feeding their power to the Greater Grail to activate the Heaven's Feel Ritual and create a gateway to Akasha.

All in all, the only irregularity he could see was that the Einzbern replaced the Berserker Class during the Third War in their attempt to summon the Divine Spirit Angra Mainyu, the Zoroastrian God of Darkness, but it failed and the resulting Servant was weak, being killed early on in the War.

"Damn it." Naruto scowled, letting go of Illya's soul and turning off his Rinnegan.

"Assassin?" Rin asked in confusion. "What did you do?"

"Basically, I grabbed her soul and saw all her memories. It's all copied in here now." He tapped his temple. "The problem is, Illya doesn't know why her father, Emiya Kiritsugu, destroyed the Grail. Doesn't care much, either, given she will die when the Grail is completed and if not then, then in a year. The Einzbern have experimented on her to make a more compatible Master and Lesser Grail for a decade, drastically shortening her already short lifespan." He frowned.

"I see." Rin gave the girl a look of pity. "What now, then?"

"Well, you will be pleased to know that the Saber of this War is the same as last time, King Arthur, or rather Artoria Pendragon. Also, Shirou most likely has **Avalon** , the sheath of **Excalibur** , implanted in him, giving him that regenerative power. It's probably how he managed to summon her in the first place." Naruto explained.

"Well, that's… unexpected." Rin blinked a few times. "King Arthur, a girl." She muttered. "Anyway, think you can beat her?"

"Not a problem. She doesn't look to have been summoned at full power." Naruto shrugged.

"Good, good. And, about the Grail?" Rin asked.

"Well, isn't it convenient that Matou Zouken, one of the founders of the Grail War, is still alive and living in this City?" Naruto smirked.

Later that night, after Rin had gone to sleep and was under the watchful eyes of a dozen clones, as was Illya, Naruto sneaked outside and under a tree on the Tohsaka's property before siting in a lotus position and closing his eyes once he made a few more clones to alert him in case of an attack on his person.

His time in Sage Mode earlier had been brief, but even so he had felt it all too well. The sheer, undiluted hatred the World, Gaia, had for humans was staggering, beyond even that of Kurama at his most unpleasant point. Had it been him during life, Naruto would not have been able to handle it, never mind simply ignore it while went ahead and used Senjutsu without a worry.

But this him, the Heroic Spirit whose legend stated to have conquered the hatred of the whole world… well, that was another thing entirely.

With a sigh, he sank into the initial state of the **Six Paths Senjutsu** , allowing only his eyes to change beneath his eyelids as he drew into himself the heavily tainted natural energy. He circulated through his body, and then separated it in two distinctly uneven portions as he expelled it back outside his body via his hands.

Through the white sun Yang symbol in his right palm came out purified natural energy, free of any taint whatsoever, while through the black moon Yin symbol in his left palm came out the taint that had contaminated the energy he had taken in, with just barely any energy at all attached to it, merely an ugly black mist that began to swirl into a sphere in Naruto's left palm.

" _It's going to be a long night."_ Naruto thought as he mentally ordered a few of the clones he had already created to set of a barrier that would obstruct sensory abilities.

 _Timeskip – that morning_

Rin was not worried when one of the clones of her Servant told her that Assassin was outside meditating. Why should she be? Given that both her and Illya were clearly being kept protected by the clones and he himself was nearby, why should she worry about?

Hence why, upon leaving the house and nearing him, she dropped to her knees and gagged, throwing up the breakfast she had just eaten upon unknowingly passing the boundary of the barrier the clones still maintained.

"N-Naruto… wh-what is _that?_ " Rin asked, staring in horror at the gigantic sphere of swirling darkness that her servant held in the palm of the left hand he had raised above his head. The thing was several times larger then her house and whatever it was that had prevented her from feeling it until she got close was likely the only thing keeping the whole Fuyuki City from seeing it.

"This, Rin, is a large portion of Gaia's hatred for humanity." Naruto sighed tiredly, a sad smile on his lips. "You see, as a Sage I have the ability to draw on the world's natural energy, the mana as it's called these says, to empower myself. But with it comes the will of the world, which in this case is a hatred for the humans that are destroying the planet." He explained.

"How… how can you stand it?" Rin whispered.

"I was exposed to a lot of hatred from the moment I was born, and it only got worse later on. But, I managed to overcome it and thanks to my legend that states that I have overcome the hatred of the whole world – which was actually due to me being the catalyst of bringing peace after a millennium of continuous conflict – I can do it now as well, despite this hated being much, much worse then anything I had to put up with in the past."

"I see…" Rin muttered. "What are you going to do with that?"

In response, Naruto smirked as his **Rinnegan** activated again before closing his right eye as he focused his left on the giant sphere of spiraling hatred. A pinprick of light appeared within the black sphere and, slowly but surely, the sphere of hated shrunk and was eventually fully sucked into what was revealed to be a small golden portal that closed once its job was done.

"Where did you send it?" Rin inquired curiously.

"To the Reverse Side of the World." Naruto replied. "No humans live here, and the creatures there will be unbothered by hatred focused on humanity as it won't affect them in the lightest." He got up and stretched. "And, to think that was just about a quarter of Gaia's hatred for humans. The next three nights are going to suck." He concluded with a groan.

"You're going to do it again?" Rin asked, surprised.

"Until it's all gone, yeah." Naruto confirmed. "This is not my time, so it would not feel right to make any tangible changes… but lightening the weight on humanity's shoulders is something I feel I can do at least."

"I see… you know, you never told me what your wish for the Grail is." Rin realized.

"I want another chance at life. Back in my day, I had the odds stacked against me and people out for my blood since before I was even born. I worked my ass off, day in and day out, to not only survive but also save the world and bring peace. And, in the end, I apparently managed it… but I never got to enjoy any of it, did I? I went out with a bang." Naruto chuckled bitterly.

"So, you want to be incarnated? Or to change the past?" Rin asked.

"Neither." Naruto shook his head. "What's done is done, I won't spit on my own achievements and the sacrifices I and my friends made to reach them. Nor would living in this era feel right. I could fit in, I know I could do so easily, but I don't want to. No, what I want was to be reincarnated in my time period as an Uzumaki Naruto in a world parallel to my own while maintaining my current power and knowledge and still be able to grow beyond that if I train enough. Preferably in a world where I would have an easier time actually living." He added as an afterthought before shrugging. "It's a selfish wish, I know. I could wish to cure hunger or for world peace, but having already achieved the later I know its value and won't cheapen it through a wish. If the humans of this era want peace and prosperity, they'll have to _earn it_." he said firmly. "Taking Gaia off their backs, at least for a while, is enough help already."

"Wait, when you said 'take Gaia off their backs'…" Rin's eyes widened and proceeded to cast a spell, gasping at the resulting fireball. "The rejection of magecraft has been reduced! If you keep this up, magecraft will be as strong as in the Age of the Gods!"

"That so?" Naruto smirked. "You're welcome, then. Now, if you excuse me, I need to take a shower after a whole night of community service. I feel dirty. My clones can guard you safely to school, and I'll catch up soon anyway."

"Right, it's getting late!" Rin realized upon checking her watch and getting back to her feet, dusting herself off. "And Naruto. Thank you for this, I really mean it." Rin smiled.

"My pleasure." Naruto waved over his shoulder.

After his quick shower, however, Naruto did not go to school. He had sensed it, when he was submerged enough in Sage Mode and after the natural energy around Fuyuki and its surroundings had been purified. The same pure evil he had sensed within Kotomine Kirei and to a lesser extent in Matou Sakura existed deep under Mount Enzou, exactly where the Greater Grail System had been inscribed. It was clear to him, now, why Emiya Kiritsugu had destroyed the Holy Grail he had sacrificed his wife to obtain: it had been corrupted, somehow.

Thus, Naruto had to act quickly, while he still could do something to fix the situation and certainly before the Grail materialized in its corrupted form. He had checked Illya's body and the Lesser Grail in her was not corrupted but it was connected to the Greater Grail that was. If enough Servants died, the taint could spill into her as well and corrupt her Lesser Grail also.

Thus, Naruto needed to act. He could not go under the mountain yet, not when he had no idea what he may encounter there, so he first had to gather information.

Matou Sakura was first on his list. True, she had the less taint among those contaminated, but that might just make it easier to discern what it was. And at the very least he could do something about it. Hence why, upon finishing helping out around the school's Archery Club before classes started for the day and having changed back into her school uniform, Sakura found a hand covering her mouth preventing her from screaming followed by a pinching sensation on her neck, and all she knew was darkness.

Naruto, meanwhile, prepared an examination area in the middle of Rin's living room, having had the clones clean up the mess from his summoning and fix the roof to the best of their abilities.

"What are you doing?" Illya asked, having woken up and been fed breakfast before being led to him by the clones keeping an eye on her.

"I'm preparing to examine a girl that is infected with the same thing that the Greater Grail is." Naruto said simply, drawing more and more seals on the floor.

"Infected? What do you mean?" Illya demanded.

"There is something evil in the Greater Grail under Mount Enzou. I felt it last night while using an ability of mine to sense the whole city. It's probably why your father destroyed the Grail in the last War, it infected it also." Naruto replied.

"A-Are you sure?" Illya asked.

"No. Which is why I'm investigating those also infected with it before I try to do something about the Greater Grail. I have never even _imagined_ something so vile existing." Naruto shook his head with a grimace.

"So… who is this girl?" Illya asked, siting down on a nearby chair.

"Matou Sakura, the true Matou Master why summoned the Rider of this War. He stepbrother, Matou Shinji, is acting as the Master and giving Rider orders, but Sakura has the actual Command Spells. Only two, though, so she probably used one to make Rider obey that asshole Shinji." Naruto explained.

"You're… surprisingly forthcoming with information." Illya remarked surprised.

"That's because I have an offer for you, Illyasviel von Einzbern." Naruto smiled.

Half hour later, the kidnapper clone arrived carrying Sakura after discretely making its way there and set her down in the middle of the Fuinjutsu array Naruto had drawn on the floor.

"Let's see what we have here…" He activated his **Rinnegan** to gaze upon the unconscious girl.

 **A.N.: And the second one.**


	3. Chapter 3

"T-This is…!" Naruto stared in shock and horror.

"What's wrong with her?" Illya tensed, haven't not seen the relaxed and self-assured Assassin caught so off-guard before.

"There are… things inside her body. Some sort of… magecraft-enhanced worms?" Naruto stared. "All over her body, her organs, her bones… even her nerves! They've burrowed into her and replaced a bunch of her body functions… and from the looks of it are feeding on her prana."

"Hm, sounds like Crest Worms." Illya said in disgust. "The lowest of familiars."

"There's more then that… the taint in her is concentrated on her heart." Naruto paused and a look of anger appeared on his face.

"What?" Illya pressed.

"From the looks of it, whoever did this tried to turn her heart into a makeshift Lesser Grail. It's a pale shadow to your own, but it could function as one, most likely. Though obviously more limited." Naruto answered.

"…Matou Zouken." Illya scowled. "He's the only one who could have done this."

"Also, there is a particularly large worm next to her heart that contains human soul, one around two centuries old. That's probably his soul." Naruto added.

"Why would he…?" Illya asked in surprise.

"It's probably how he survived this long." Naruto growled. "Taking the bodies of others as hosts. There was a man in my time who did the same."

"…What are you going to do?" Illya asked.

"First of all, let's see what Sakura knows about this." Naruto stated a he placed a hand on her head and grasped his soul with his _**Human Path**_ , assimilating his memories… and gaged. **"I will erase Matou Zouken. There will be nothing left of him to pass on, not a shred of his wretched soul! Matou Shinji as well!"** he snarled.

"A-Assassin?" Illya asked, frightened.

It took Naruto a few moments to realize what alarmed her so, and he realized he had activated one of his Noble Phantasm unconsciously out of anger, specifically the **Jinchuriki Form 1: Chakra Cloak** that had already gone up to the fifth tail by the time he reigned in his temper and turned it off.

"Since she was adopted by the Matou from the Tohsaka when she was five, eleven years ago, she was thrown into the literal worm pit that Zouken calls a Workshop and had her body defiled by thousands upon thousands of Crest Worms almost nightly." Naruto said with barely controlled rage. "The worms also have different effects on males and females. In the males, they eat the bone marrow, making them frail and in some cases damaging parts of the body beyond repair. In females, however, they eat portions of her womb and the ones in her blood also act as an aphrodisiac. More so, they demanded more prana then her body can produce, so Zouken had Shinji rape her since she had her first period, and keep doing so on a regular basis. So she could get prana from his semen." He spat.

"…Damn, she had it worse then me." Illya muttered. "So… what will you do?"

Naruto was silent for a few moments as he examined the Fuinjutsu array beneath Sakura.

"With the exception of the Crest Worm that holds Zouken's soul – which Sakura does not even know about – all the other worms are currently inactive. Have been for a few days now, likely since she summoned Rider who is indeed Medusa, as I suspected." Naruto commented. "Even if destroyed, as long as I don't mess with the big one near the heart she'll be fine… however, many of them are intertwined with her nerves, so normal surgical extraction is not an option."

"Hm, maybe I can transmute them into something harmless." Illya offered.

"It might work." Naruto nodded slowly. "However, it might also trigger something we did not know about." He shook his head. "No, they need to be disposed of all at once, preferably instantly."

"If I had a good enough image of her body in my mind as well as a large supply of prana, I could probably use my Wishcraft to get it done." Illya mused.

"No, that would be a bad idea. It might trigger something in that tainted fake Lesser Grail." Naruto was quick to deny. "No, I know how to do this. But I will have to kill Rider first. There seems to be something connecting the Servant Contract with the Crest Worms. I don't know what it is, and I would rather not risk it."

"What about not wanting to push things with completing the Grail?" Illya pointed out.

"A second dead Servant won't make much of a difference. Plus, the form Medusa was summoned in was not her best possible one, unlike your Heracles. She's worth as much as an average Servant, while Heracles is worth two. As long as three more Servants don't die before I can cleanse the Greater Grail – or two with one being particularly strong – then things should be fine." Naruto sighed.

"If you say so." Illya shrugged.

"This Grail War might end quicker then I thought, the way things are going." Naruto mused before forming a few dozen **Kage Bunshin** and sending them outside. "Just having them pick up where I left off when Rin left."

"You're having them get rid of Gaia's hatred for humans?" Illya asked, having been told what he had been up to while they waited for Sakura to be brought there.

"Yes. I'll have to be here to send it to the Reverse Side of the World, but they can do the gathering and filtering part themselves. And, since there are so much more of them, they will work much faster." Naruto nodded as he got up. "Look after Sakura, will you? I need to get to school. Rider is probably near there, to stay on hand for Shinji."

"Sure." Illya shrugged, eyeing the unconscious girl with an unreadable look.

It was after school when Rin seemed to have decided to take matters into her own hands concerning one Emiya Shirou who had, quite stupidly, come to school without his Servant.

"Keep in mind that we can't afford Saber to die at this point." Naruto warned. "Even improperly summoned as she is, she's still worth as much as two regular Servants."

"Don't worry, my _**Gandr**_ will merely knock him out or at least make him feel so terrible he wishes he's been knocked out." Rin assured him. "Then, I can take his Command Spells and add Saber to our own firepower."

"Fine, but if it looks like things are not working out, I'm stepping in." Naruto said firmly.

As he had pretty much expected, Rin could not bring herself to seriously harm Shirou allowing him to draw out the fight either by running away or blocking her attacks with _**Reinforced**_ objects used as makeshift shields.

Their little chase through the school, however, ended when an area-effect spell was activated all over the place, draining the energy of the occupants, causing them to postpone their confrontation for the moment in favor of finding the culprit or at least a way to stop it.

Surprisingly enough, it was Shirou who ended up finding the one responsible, Rider, while Naruto and Rin were tricked into going to another magic sigil on the roof that was merely a decoy.

When the two arrived at the scene, Rider was engaged in battle with Saber who must have been either summoned there by Shirou via Command Spell or had had more sense than her foolish Master and come after him at school despite his personal desires.

" _I need to act now, before she notices me and Astralizes to escape."_ Naruto decided, his **Rinnegan** flashing to life as a familiar jutsu formed in his hand. _**"Amenotejikara!"**_ he whispered as he teleported behind and above Rider who was in midair facing downwards and thus in no position to dodge, in the unlikely event she even sensed him… which, unfortunately for her, was not the case. _**"Wakusei Rasengan!"**_ he declared as slammed it into Rider's back, blasting her into the ground bellow creating a crater and causing a minor earthquake.

"Good job, Assassin!" Rin praised once she had steadied herself.

"Indeed, that was impressive." Saber admitted.

"Thank you." Naruto smiled. "Now, there is just one final matter to attend to." He stated as he teleported behind Shirou who was already being held by a couple clones are kunai-point.

"Assassin!" Saber exclaimed angrily.

"What are you…?" Rin began.

"I've told you, Rin. If you don't resolve this, I'm stepping in." Naruto cut her off having just taken his hand from the boy's head after scanning his mind with the _**Human Path**_. "Tell me, Saber, have you wondered why exactly why you're not getting any prana from this guy?" he turned to the Servant of the Sword.

"What does that…?" Saber began.

"The reason is simple: he's not a magus." Naruto told her bluntly. "The reason he is able to use a little _**Reinforcement**_ is due to him cannibalizing his nerves to turn them into makeshift temporary Magic Circuits that fail as soon as he uses them, if not sooner."

"That's… impossible!" Saber exclaimed in shock and no little horror at his recklessness. Having been partially raised by Merlin, she knew a thing or two about magecraft, even if she did not personally practice it.

"Yes, normally he would be long-dead or at least crippled. The reason why he still lives, and why he summoned you in particular, is this!" Naruto reached into Shirou's body and pulled out a certain golden sheath Saber was very familiar with.

" **Avalon**?" she whispered in shock.

"W-What is that? What is this about?" Shirou demanded in confusion.

"It's simple, brat." Naruto said flatly. "You remember how your father kept refusing to teach you magecraft? It's because you're not a magus. Magi are born already possessing Magic Circuits which are extensions of their souls. Magic Circuits are not made. You're not a magus. You're a wannabe, a hack. And your participation in the Grail War ends here." he pressed his body against the boy's back. _**"Keiyaku Fuin."**_ He uttered.

"W-What did you do?" Shirou asked in shock.

"I severed that frail connection you had with Saber. Also, you won't be needing these." Naruto pressed his hand against Shirou's Command Spells and transferred them onto his own hand. "Saber is now my Servant." He flared some power into the three sigils, solidifying the connection between them.

"Im-Impossible!" Saber exclaimed in outrage.

"I have the tendency to achieve that, yes." Naruto smiled before letting go of Shirou and shoving him away. "You can leave, brat. This no longer concerns you. Also, keep in mind that the next time you try to create Magic Circuits out of your nerves, you will likely die or be rendered a vegetable."

"You can't expect me to just leave Saber…" Shirou began outraged.

"If you want to stay, it will be permanently. I already dug out your grave. And I can make Saber put you there." Naruto gave him a smirk full of malice.

"Shirou, run!" Saber told him and, grudgingly, he obeyed.

"Well, at least that's done with." Naruto's evil smile dropped and his eyes turned to the crater. "Damn, I do need to cover that up." He formed some Handseals and the earth began to move, within seconds smoothing out and hiding the evidence of the battle.

"Naruto… was it true what you said? About him turning his nerves into fake Circuits?" Rin asked warily.

"Yes." Naruto nodded. "Now that he knows, he'll hopefully stop."

"And if he doesn't?" Rin pressed.

"Then he will die, which would still be a preferable outcome." Naruto said flatly.

" **What?"** the pigtailed magus demanded angrily.

"He has a Reality Marble, Rin." Naruto shook his head. "It's not complete yet, but should he be allowed to delve deeper into the world of magic, either the Mages Association will notice and give him a Sealing Designation, turning him into a lab rat at best, or a Dead Apostle will turn him since Reality Marbles are most often found in inhuman creatures like them, making him a useful pawn for whoever turns him."

"T-That's…" Rin was at a loss of words.

"You are… kinder than I believed." Saber admitted.

"I did not become the Savior of the World by being evil, Artoria Pendragon." Naruto chuckled.

"So, you _do_ know my identity." The blonde sighed. "How did you find out?"

"Father participated in the last Grail War and kept records of the participant Servants." Rin explained.

"Ah, I should have considered that." Saber sighed. "Still…" she eyed Naruto warily "How is it that you can act as a Master? It should be impossible for a Servant to do so." she pointed out.

"I the **Double Summon** skill. It means I was summoned with the skills of a Caster as well." Naruto explained. "So… how pissed off are you right now?"

"…Less than I should, probably." Saber scowled. "Still, while I agree that it is best if Shirou is no longer involved in the War and the world of magic, I am not pleased by the fact that I am now unable to claim the Grail."

"Again, you mean." Naruto smirked, causing her to stiffen. "I know all about the last War and what Kiritsugu made you do. I'll tell you about it once we reach Rin's house. My work has only just begun tonight." He sighed.

As he expected, though, neither Rin nor Saber were pleased to discover a knocked-out Sakura, stripped naked and spread-eagle on the middle of a Fuinjutsu array that looked a lot like a pentagram with lit candles in the corners.

He didn't blame them, though. It did look like something out a bad satanic-themed movie.

"Naruto. Explain." Rin grin her teeth.

"The short version is that since your father gave her up to the Matou, Sakura has had her body violated by Zouken's Crest Worms almost nightly. Due to the side-effects of Crest Worms in females, Zouken also had Shinji rape her regularly since she had her first period. Oh, and to top it off, Zouken used pieces of the last War's Grail to turn he into a Lesser Grail like Illya." Naruto finished, gesturing at the white-haired girl.

"…" Rin said nothing, but tears were welling in her eyes and Naruto did not need to be an empath to feel the sheer shame and guilt skyrocketing in his Master.

"So, we're fixing her as much as we can, physically at least." Naruto concluded.

"…Very well." Saber nodded. "Do proceed."

Nodding, Naruto stepped into the circle and was suddenly engulfed in a golden aura. Without further ado, he plunged his hand into Sakure's chest – though notably it looked like it phased into her rather than punch a hole in her – and upon grasping the large Crest Worm that held the majority of Zouken's soul he activated his **Rinnegan** and grasp the old man's soul and began pulling at it. This was not just to take his memories or extract the soul from the Crest Worm, but to make use of the tethers it had to the other fragments of Zouken's soul, ripping them out of their current physical shells remotely.

Ten seconds into it, Matou Zouken died. There was no fight, no struggle. He simply died, ignorant of his killer. Without him, the Crest Worms that remained would stop following whatever instructions he had given them and simple become immobile, withering away as the prana they currently possessed was exhausted.

Nodding in satisfaction, Naruto removed his hand from within her body and instead pressed it against her chest, taking a few moments to fully discern what Sakura's energy signature was, without the energy from Zouken, the Grail fragments and the taint on them.

Before he moved on, though, decided it was a perfect time to end Sakura's time as a Lesser Grail as well as her connection to what Zouken's memories revealed to be Angra Mainyu within the Grail. And this happened with the application of a _**Keiyaku Fuin**_ that cut her off from the Greater Grail and the evil that lay within it.

Then, he took the **Avalon** that he had liberated from Emiya Shirou and implanted it in her. Due to its proximity to Saber, it immediately went to work to heal its host's body. However, on its own, it would be unable to purge the Crest Worms that had integrated into Sakura to the point that they were considered part of her.

That was Kurama's job, Naruto decided and upon using his **Kyubi Chakra Mode** at full power, he used the **Chakra Transfer Jutsu** to impart on Sakura a one-tailed **Chakra Cloak** like he had to they whole Allied Forces when fighting against the Juubi… and then, pushed it further, into a one-tailed **Blood Shroud** that immediately began eroding at Sakura's body.

" **Naruto!"** Rin screamed in horror.

"Her body is full of Crest Worms, Rin. Some have been in her so long they've integrated into her body completely. They need to go." Naruto said firmly. "This form is doing a lot of damage to her, external and internal, but it also grants an incredible healing factor and add in **Avalon's** own healing she'll be perfectly fine. I'm also keeping her unconscious through it all, so she's not in pain." He assured her.

"Will there be any long-term consequences of this procedure?" Saber asked as she eyed the humanoid black and red fox Sakura had been turned into by the mixture of Bijuu chakra and blood.

"The repeated damage and healing are shortening her lifespan, but Avalon is mostly negating that problem. Otherwise, nothing." Naruto said firmly.

"I see. Very well, then." Saber nodded in approval. "What of the rapist?" her eyes narrowed in anger.

"I had a clone kill him messily as soon as I dealt with Zouken, just in case the old bastard took offense to having the last of his bloodline killed, unlikely as it was." Naruto said coldly. "By now, they will have disposed of his corpse."

"Good." Rin grit her teeth.

Thankfully, it only took ten minutes for Kurama's corrosive chakra to erode all the additions to Sakura's body, including most of the fragments the broken Grail, and then regenerate the lost parts with the aid of Avalon. When the **Blood Shroud** was pushed back into a **Chakra Cloak** , Rin, Saber and Illya gasped at the sight of Sakura's body, her entire skin having been eroded away, but it only lasted for a few seconds before **Avalon** and the **Chakra Cloak** healed that as well before being absorbed back by Naruto.

This left a once more naked Sakura on the floor, but she had obviously been changed by the experience. Color that she had previously lacked due to all the time she spent underground and being experimented on wit the Crest Worms was now returned to her skin. The purple her hair had been turned into by Zouken's alterations was purged turning her hair ebony black rather the near-black brown Rin's hair was. Her eyes that had originally been the same aqua blue as Rin's and then changed to purple by Zouken's alterations, had now taking the red from both Kurama's chakra and from the previous Lesser Grail, Irisviel von Einzbern, resulting in a striking violet. Lastly, her body had also apparently also gotten a growth spurt. Nothing too spectacular, just a centimeter in height and an accentuation of her already generous curves.

"Okay, we're done with Sakura. Illya is next." Naruto stated as he extracted **Avalon** from the still unconscious girl.

"Eh?" the albino blinked.

"We won't be able to fix all the damage done to your lifespan, but we should be able to insure you won't die before the Grail is even materialized." Naruto explained as he implanted the sheath in the young-looking girl that was actually his senior by almost a couple of years. Then, he infused her with Kurama's chakra as well but maintained the connection, temporarily granting her a replica of the **Kyubi Chakra Mode**.

"This… is not damaging me like it happened to Sakura." Illya remarked curiously. "Why didn't you use this on her?"

"I needed to erode the alterations and additions from her system." Naruto reminded. "Now, it will take longer then it did for Sakura, so why don't you all sit down so I can explain the situation to you?" he suggested.

"Okay, spill." Rin nodded as she eyed a clone dutifully dressing Sakura back up again.

"Basically, the Grail is currently corrupted." Naruto began. "It's because the Einzbern messed with the System before the Third Grail War. What they did was remove a lot of safety limitations on what sort of spirits can be summoned into the Servant Containers, and introduce a new Class, Avenger."

"What sort of limitations?" Rin frowned.

"Well, initially, only 'good' Heroic Spirits can be summoned. But without that limitation, we have freaking Bluebeard showing up as Caster in the Fourth War. It's not surprising they had to remove that limitation, they wanted to summon the Zoroastrian God of Darkness, Angra Mainyu." Naruto deadpanned.

"Hm, I assume that another limitation removed was on the level of Divinity of the summoned Servants." Saber remarked.

"Correct. You see, in truth the Throne of Gods is actually a subsection of the Throne of Heroes, for those possessing A rank and above Divinity." Naruto began.

"Like you?" Illya commented.

"And your Heracles, and Gilgamesh, as well as a whole lot of Demigods that kept ties to their Divine source during life, and obviously full Divine Spirits, Gods in their own right." Naruto nodded.

"I see. But why is the Grail corrupted by Avenger?" Rin frowned.

"Because Avenger is still in the Greater Grail." Naruto deadpanned. "Those idiots, the Einzbern, went through a lot of effort to be able summon Angra Mainyu, but forgot to make sure it will go back to the Throne after the Grail War is over like the Spirits of the Servants summoned in the seven standard Classes. So, since then, Angra Mainyu has been waiting for the Grail to be completed to be born into the world… and, well, erase humanity from existence. The fact that he himself is conceptually a wish-granting being allowed him to incorporate himself into the Grail."

"What do you mean?" Saber frowned.

"Angra Mainyu was originally a human that the priests of his village ritualistically tortured and sacrificed, forcing him to conceptually take upon himself All the World's Evil over the course of his miserable life just so that they themselves would not have any evil burdening their own souls." Naruto said in distasted. "That was the form the Einzbern summoned, hence why it was so weak. It was just some poor sap a bunch of assholes abused. However, when he died as a human, he ascended to Godhood. The same happened in the Third Grail War; when he died as a Servant, he ascended to Godhood, but he was trapped within the Grail and by its limitations."

"So… this War and the previous one are pointless since if we try to get a wish granted, we're ending the world?" Rin concluded.

"At the moment, yes." Naruto smirked. "Thankfully, I'm a stubborn bastard that won't back don't just because some God of Evil is trying to cheat me. Let me show you how I'm going to deal with it. Is that okay with you, Sakura?"

"…" the adopted Matou's eyes opened, giving him a sheepish look while everyone stared at her.

"How long has she been awake?" Illya, still covered in glowing golden chakra, asked in surprise.

"She woke up while my clone was dressing her." Naruto replied in amusement. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling…" Sakura began as she sat upright "…Incredible." She admitted in surprise. "What did you do?"

"I fixed almost all Zouken did to your body." Naruto replied.

"…What?" Sakura asked in shock.

Smiling, Naruto gestured to a full-length mirror nearby and upon gazing into it Sakura froze. Slowly, as if she could not believe what she was seeing, she reached up and touched her face, watching the reflection doing the same. Then, she grabbed a strand of her hair and pulled it before her eyes, verifying that it was indeed no longer purple.

"This… this is…" Sakura trembled.

"Zouken and Shinji are also dead, so you don't have to worry about them touching you again in any way." Naruto said gently.

"T-Thank you… thank you so much!" she burst into tears.

Sighing, Naruto created a **Kage Bunshin** and it promptly went to comfort the crying girl since he would have had to drag Illya with him if he moved.

The room remained silent as they waited for Sakura to calm down and regain some measure of composure, but none of them made an effort to hurry her. After what she had been through, she deserved to take all the time she needed. After about half hour, though, she mostly calmed down.

"You asked me something before, Naruto-sama." Sakura mentioned.

"Lose the suffix, please, Naruto will do." He told her. "As for what I asked, I need your participation to show how I would get rid of Angra Mainyu from the Grail System." He explained.

"…I'll do my best, but I don't have much combat magecraft." Sakura admitted in embarrassment.

"Oh, don't worry, there won't be any combat involved. You don't have to actually _do_ anything, just stand still. It will feel rather unpleasant but it's for your own health." He told her.

"Very well. I'm in your care." Sakura bowed.

"I just need you to open up the buttons of your shirt so I can touch the skin on your chest." Naruto told her before looking over to Illya. "Hm, looks like this is the best we can get." He decided as he withdrew his chakra.

"I do feel a lot more… alive." Illya admitted.

"Keep **Avalon** in you for now, it will lessen the strain on you from the Servants absorbed." Naruto instructed.

"Okay." Illya nodded.

"Now then, I just need you to stand still, Sakura." Naruto told the girl as he approached her, entering his **Six Paths Senjutsu** state, ten black spheres that were the **Truth-Seeking Balls** manifesting behind him before one moved in front of Sakura and shifted into a large bowl shape. "It might feel odd and likely unpleasant, but it's not doing you any harm. Quite the contrary, given what we're about to pull out of you." He said firmly.

"I'm ready." Sakura stilled her resolve as she pulled aside her shirt to reveal her bra-clad breasts.

"Good." Naruto went through seven Handseals and then pressed his right hand against her chest. _**"Kaija Houin!"**_ he uttered and then made a grasping motion, beginning to pull away.

Attached to his hand, a stream of black mud emerged from Sakura's body and once he let go it poured into the bowl-shaped **Truth-Seeking Ball** and was erased from existence. Still, in the short time it took to fully leave Sakura's body and be destroyed, everyone there felt the sheer foulness of it, the girls recoiling from it.

"What in the world is that thing?" Saber demanded.

"Materialized curses. Merely a drop of what poured from the Greater Grail after Kiritsugu had you destroy the Grail with **Excalibur** at the end of the last War." Naruto replied, checking Sakura over and nodding in satisfaction as finding her curse-free. "And yet, billions remain, one for each human on the face of this world." He sighed, returning to his regular state.

"What you just did with Sakura… you plan on doing it to the Greater Grail as well, don't you?" Illya realized.

"Yep. I'm heading there right now. I just have to make a quick stop outside the mansion, first. It's best if you all remain here." Naruto confirmed as he headed to the window and after opening it he jumped out.

Approaching the window, the girls widened their eyes when the massive barrier was taken down revealing several **Kage Bunshin** in Sage Mode holding gigantic spheres of dark energy above their heads all over the Tohsaka lawn.

"What are they holding?" Sakura asked.

"Gaia's hatred… they actually finished! They actually separated all of Gaia's hatred for humanity from all the world's Mana!" Rin answered in shock.

Gaping, they could only watch as Naruto got rid of the taint, Rin absently telling them he sent it to the Reverse Side of the World, and then leave after dispelling his clones.

 _Ten no Sakazuki_

"So, this is it." Naruto muttered as he gazed upon the kilometer-wide magic circle inscribed into the rock using the Magic Circuits of Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern who even now existed as the core of the Greater Grail. He could feel it even now, the foulness that had contaminated the Greater Grail System, even as it existed in literally another dimension.

Reaching this place would have been impossible for the average person, be they magus or Servant, due to the nigh-impenetrable barrier around the whole cavern to prevent tampering. Thankfully, the _**Amenotejikara**_ in his left eye allowed him to simple teleport within the barrier, a feat only Zelretch, the Magician of the **Kaleidoscope** , could match in this day and age.

Shaking his head, he decided to simply get to work. He formed a **Kage Bunshin** and then put them to work on drawing a seal on the ground around the center of the magic circle. Meanwhile, he drew another seal in the very center of the magic circle. Specifically, it was the _**Kaija Houin**_ that he had used on Sakura, a written version of it much like its opposite that Kakashi had once used to contain Sasuke's Cursed Seal of Heaven. The reason he was using a written version rather than a chakra-imprint version was quite simple: he did not want to be anywhere neat when that sheer evil came out, never mind in physical contact with it. Hence the purpose of the seal his clone was drawing, to contain the effects of the _**Kaija Houin**_ to just that space rather than the whole magic circle.

It only took a couple minutes to finish and double-check his work, before moving to activate it. He entered his **Six Paths Senjutsu** state and created six **Kage Bunshin** who were also in that state and quickly positioned themselves around the outer seal, promptly activating it.

Naruto then had his **Truth-Seeking Balls** merge into a single large one and move over the space within the boundaries of the outer seal before shifting into a dome that covered that area entirely.

The clones then went through four Handseals and set up the six-sided _**Musekiyoujin**_ around the outer seal as a backup safety precaution.

It was only then that Naruto activated the _**Kaija Houin**_ while at the same time focusing his will into the **Truth-Seeking Ball** , which turned out to be a good idea as the torrent of materialized curses erupted like a geyser and even with his full focus on the **Truth-Seeking Ball** it still shuddered slightly from the pressure from beneath.

It was in that position that Naruto remained for the entire night, his entire focus on ensuring not a drop of Angra Mainyu's cursed escaped. It was just after dawn that the torrent of curses ran dry, the **Truth-Seeking Ball** scrapping the surface of the stone just in case there was something left there.

Sighing in relief, he dismissed the clones and with them the _**Musekiyoujin**_ and the containment seal after which he reverted the single large **Truth-Seeking Ball** into his customary ten smaller ones before returning to his regular state.

"Damn, good think I can use Senjutsu to replenish my reserves on my own, otherwise Rin would have been drained dry by now, what with all the costly jutsu I've been throwing around." He sighed as he stretched. "Another good thing is that Servants don't need to sleep, otherwise I would be screwed."

Shaking his head, he left the cavern through the same tunnel he had entered through, soon reaching the barrier… beyond which a grinning Lancer waited.

"Yo." The grinning Cu Chulainn greeted.

"Hey, long time no see." Naruto grinned. "What brings you here."

"My now former Master had a really bad reaction from whatever the hell you did in there." Lancer grinned widely. "Apparently, it was bad for his heart."

"…Kotomine is dead?" Naruto blinked, having leant from Zouken's memories that the priest was Lancer's Master, something the worm familiars had discovered not long ago.

"Yep. He did, however, give me one last order via Command Spells to come here and kill whoever was in that cave behind you." Lancer replied, twirling his spear.

"Hence why you haven't faded yet." Naruto nodded in understanding. "Well, I've had a long night so if you don't mind I'll fight you seriously from the start, unlike last time." He said as he called upon the **Six Paths Senjutsu** again as well as the **Rinnegan** and **Kyubi Chakra Mode** , entering his strongest humanoid state.

"Great!" Lancer exclaimed. "Now let's…GAH!" he suddenly coughed blood. Looking down, he saw an arm shrouded in golden energy piercing his chest. He then felt a hand on his head and he looked up into Naruto's **Rinnegan** eyes. "Damn… I was hoping… for an actual fight…" he grumbled.

"With an Assassin?" Naruto pointed out as he kept using the _**Human Path**_ to read his memories, especially his knowledge of magecraft such as Runes.

"…good point." Lancer sighed as he faded away, breaking apart into motes of prana and disappearing.

"Hm, I wonder how Gilgamesh will react." Naruto mused as he made his way back to the Tohsaka mansion.

 **A.N.: And third.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Come again?" Naruto blinked, looking down at Sakura who was bowing deeply, her forehead touching her ground.

"Please take me with you!" Sakura repeated her plead.

"…Why?" He frowned, his eyes moving toward Illya who shrugged with what wanted to be an innocent smile on her lips.

"I wish to have a new start. Hopefully a better life." Sakura explained.

"You do realize that in my time period, there was conflict around every corner, with at least one World War in which I earned most of my legend… and died in. Right?" Naruto pressed.

"Yes." Sakura confirmed. "But I'm hoping my life will be happier, even if I have to fight for it at some point." She admitted. "It can't be worse then my life as a Matou." She said bitterly.

"Actually, it could be a lot worse." Naruto deadpanned. "With Zouken, evil bastard that he was, he still needed you alive and in relatively good health if you were to continue the Matou bloodline. On the other hand, a rather infamous and powerful criminal from my time was known to have kidnapped hundreds, if not thousands of people of all ages, and experimented on them. Gruesome stuff, the kind you would be luckier to not live through. He became obsessed with learning all the jutsu in existence, and then with immortality so he would have the time to learn them. In the end, he developed a jutsu to take over the bodies of others for a few years."

"And he would come after me? For his experiments?" Sakura stilled.

"Well… I don't think so. I know in whom his interest will be, and given that my wish would place us in a world we would have a happier life than I did originally, it should not be a problem." Naruto admitted.

"Then, if you would have me, I will take that risk." Sakura said with determination.

" _It's damn impressive how stronger her will has gotten in just a day without either Zouken's worms or Angra Mainyu's taint in her."_ Naruto mused. "Very well. But be warned, while I will try look after you if possible, I don't know where you will be reincarnated or what state either of us will be for at least a time."

"Thank you!" Sakura bowed again.

"If you don't mind me asking… what prompted to take this leap? I mean, I was under the impression you had feelings for a certain Sempai of yours." Naruto prodded.

"…He does not return my feelings." Sakura lowered her head, her eyes shadowed. "I confessed today." She admitted.

"I see… well, you're probably better off then trying a relationship with Emiya Shirou." Naruto sighed.

"Why? He's a nice boy." Sakura protested.

"Oni-chan has a Reality Marble. His way of thinking is… distorted." Illya spoke up. "If you tried to remain at his side, you would have to put up with all his peculiarities and obsessions." She shook her head sadly. "He may not be the evil bastard grandfather made me believe he is, but his obsession with saving people…" she trailed off.

"I… see." Sakura grimaced.

"Well, it's time to go." Naruto decided, sensing Rin approaching with Saber.

"Is it really safe for us to come with you?" Illya asked doubtfully. "To confront Caster and her Archer, I mean." She elaborated."

"No, but with Gilgamesh still in town it's the only option we have. He would either kidnap or kill you just to ensure nobody got the Grail which he considers as his." Naruto explained. "Not to mention, with Caster and Archer's death we will be close to completing the Grail."

"And will you kill me to do so, Assassin?" Saber asked as she entered with a frown.

"No need; Gilgamesh is bound to show up and his death will more than suffice." Naruto pointed out. "As for what I have in mind for you… well, tell me, would you rather continue your quest to spit upon all the sacrifices of you knights and people?" he arched an eyebrow.

"…No, you got your point across." Saber looked away, a mixture of shame and pain on her face.

After hearing her wish that morning, Naruto had held nothing back in reaming her on how stupid and outright insulting her wish was, to never had become king. Wanting a changed at a normal or better life, he could understand, that was what he was personally aiming for. But to erase both your achievements and those of countless others… it had pissed him off something fierce and he had not hesitated in letting her know it.

"Then, would you like to stay with Rin?" Naruto offered. "With her level of power, she can support you even without the Grail System."

"I… would like that." Saber smiled at the pigtailed girl who grinned widely, as if she had just won the lottery.

"In that case…" Naruto touched Rin's left hand, transferring the Command Spells and the contract to the Tohsaka heiress.

"Will you be alright, supporting two Servants at the same time?" Saber frowned.

"No worries; Naruto barely takes any of my power. His ability allows him to feed on the ambient Mana." Rin explained.

"I see… let us go then." Saber nodded.

It did not take them long to reach the base of the stairs leading up to the Temple, only making a quick stop by the Emiya Residence to put Shirou under a sleeping spell for the night to ensure he would not interfere or do some other stupidity.

"Hm, Archer has seen us and is preparing to fire." Naruto commented with a frown. "I must admit, Caster's strategy is rather brilliant. Given that the only way into the Temple is through the front gate due to the spiritual barrier around the mountain, using an Archer at the gate means it can cover the distance from all the way up there to not just here but a good portion of the surroundings." He remarked, his **Senjutsu** allowing him to sense Archer's actions. "…interesting." A grin appeared on his lips. "Stay behind me. I will handle this." He declared as he began advancing up the stairs.

He had barely gone up three steps before an arrow shrouded in red blurred down towards him, radiating intense power and heat, and… disappeared?

"Naruto?" Rin asked with both wariness and curiosity.

"The arrows he's shooting are Noble Phantasms, yet not. Rather, they are created out of prana, some advanced form of _**Projection**_ , I assume." Naruto smirked. "Sucks to be him. I can absorb prana. Every arrow he sends my way will only have its power added to my reserves." He told explained, the **Rinnegan** shining in his eyes as he continued using the _**Preta Path**_.

As he expected, the further they advanced up the stairs toward the Temple Gate, the more _**Projected**_ arrows rained down on them, with Naruto absorbing each and every one of them. the Archer tried to be inventive, aiming at their surroundings to cause explosions, but the debris was easily kept at by with a _**Shinra Tensei**_ while the flames some of the projectiles created were still magical flames and thus able to be absorbed by the _**Preta Path**_.

Eventually, with Naruto and Saber in the lead, the group had arrived near the top of the stairs. There, looking at them with an annoyed yet resigned expression was Archer, wearing black armor with a red cloak over it, possessing tan skin, grey eyes and white hair.

But, even so, being in Sage Mode and this close up, Naruto recognized his energy signature.

"How annoying… even with my warnings, you still went ahead and practiced magecraft, Emiya Shirou?" Naruto frowned.

"While it's true that was my name once upon a time, I was not the one you gave such a warning to. Unsurprising, really, I've already realized this is not my world." Archer commented. "But, either way, if you tried to stop my foolish younger self, you have my thanks." He smiled slightly. "I would not want him walking down my path. I was foolish enough for all my parallel selves."

"…What did you do to regret becoming a Heroic Spirit?" Naruto frowned.

"I'm a Counter Guardian. Do you know what sort of things Alaya makes me do, Uzumaki Naruto?" Archer scowled.

"…I do now, the Grail provided the information." Naruto said quietly. "Still, how did you deduce my identity? I was under the impression that there were no traces of my civilization left in the world." He pointed out.

"Due to my pellicular position, I remember all my Summonings." Archer revealed. "And while I have not met this iteration of you before, there have been quite a few others."

"I see." Naruto nodded in understanding. "Either way, though, I'm afraid I need you to die in order for the Grail to materialize. You know it is." He shrugged.

"You should know that the Grail is corrupted by…" Archer began.

"Angra Mainyu." Naruto cut him off. "I've dealt with it already."

"Really?" Archer blinked. "That was… fast. You've been summoned for what? Less than a week? And took out three Servants as well."

"I had a large ramen snack right after I was summoned." Naruto shrugged, as if that explained everything.

"…I'm not getting into an argument with Uzumaki Naruto over ramen again." Archer shook his head with determination.

"What's there to argue about? It's the food of the gods!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Archer sighed, black and white falchions materializing in his hands.

"Yeah, time to go see Caster." Naruto agreed and in a burst of speed he moved and punched _through_ Archer's chest, the falchions that had been raised to block being broken appear before even being touched by the blond's fist due to him still using the _**Preta Path**_ of the **Rinnegan**.

"Gah!' Archer coughed a glob of blood. "As… expected…" he admitted in resignation while Naruto put a hand on his head and used the _**Human Path**_ this time.

"Ugh!" Naruto flinched away from the fading Archer. _"Reading a Reality Marble. This was probably the most stupid thing I've done since Rin summoned me."_ He grimaced.

" _ **It was."**_ Kurama agreed with a growl.

" _How bad is it?"_ Naruto asked warily.

"… _ **It will recover given enough time. But there was quite a bit of destabilization done to your mind. Also, only some of the blueprints remained, the ones he used the most often. Your mind simply does not have the capabilities to host a foreign Reality Marble."**_ Kurama explained.

" _Well, I could see that coming."_ Naruto agreed with a mental sigh.

"Assassin, are you well?" Saber demanded.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Naruto nodded. _"Mostly."_ He added to himself.

"Then let us go deal with Caster." Saber stated.

"Yeah, time to finish this." Naruto agreed and took the lead… and immediately held an arm to the side, preventing Saber from advancing.

"What is it?" Saber demanded, looking around for threats.

"Traps, a lot of them. Of the magical kind." Naruto explained, his **Rinnegan** allowing him to see the sigils that covered the vast majority of the courtyard.

"I see… as expected of a Caster." Saber mused. "Will you absorb them as well, or should I take the lead and allow my Magic Resistance to take the hits?"

"No, I'm simply going to trigger them all." Naruto shook his head… and suddenly thousands of **Kage Bunshin** were crowding the courtyard.

It only lasted for a second, though, before pillars of ice, wind, fire, lightning, stone and other sorts of magical attacks erupted from the ground all over the place, killing the clones but at the same time exhausting the energy stored in the sigils.

"Okay, now to find Caster…" Rin commented.

" _ **Shinra Tensei."**_ Naruto stated calmly as he pointed his and at the space besides Saber, getting a pained scream in return as the invisibility spell Caster was using was broken when she was blasted away. _**"Bansho Ten'in."**_ he added and Caster was pulled into his grip, two clones appearing at her sides, holding her in place.

"You… Assassin…!" Caster spat.

Still, angry as she was, Naruto had to admit she was quite beautiful, with her delicate feature, blue eyes and light blue hair. And, if his eyes did not deceive him, she had pointed ears.

" _ **She's Medea of Colchis, the Witch of Betrayal. Her dagger is one of the blueprints that remained. Focus on Rule Breaker and you will get her history."**_ Kurama instructed.

Momentarily closing his eyes, Naruto did so and felt both anger and sadness at what the woman had been put through by arrogant gods. He reached out and used the _**Human Path**_ on her, confirming that it was the same iteration of her that the **Rule Breaker** Archer had recorded belonged to, as well as copying her own memories, most notably her vast knowledge of magecraft.

"I apologize, Medea." Naruto gave her a sad smile. "Had circumstances been different, I would not have denied you the second chance you desire. But I'm afraid that's what I'm fighting for as well."

"…I see." Medea calmed down mostly, a bitter yet resigned look in her eyes. "Nothing personal, right?"

"Yes." Naruto confirmed. "Should we meet again, I will try to give you the second chance you desire. That's a promise."

"…Thank you, Assassin." Medea closed her eyes. "Finish it." she told him.

Her head was severed from her shoulders a moment later by one of the clones, leaving Naruto standing alone seconds later after the **Kage Bunshin** and Medea dispersed.

"Ugh." Illya grunted.

"Illya?" Naruto eyed her with worry.

"Not yet. It's close, very close though." Illya admitted, a hand on her chest.

"I see… well, _he_ is almost here. And it appears he's not the only one who's coming." Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Get inside, quickly!" he ordered.

Less than two minutes later, he arrived. Clad in golden armor, with golden-blond hair and slit crimson eyes, the King of Heroes had made his entrance.

"My dear Saber, it seems Fate has made us cross paths again." The Archer of the Fourth Grail War smirked.

"Gilgamesh." Saber spat.

"Good to see you have not lost your fire." Gilgamesh chuckled before his eyes settled on Naruto and his smile faded. "…I will admit, I have never imagined to ever meet someone from the Age of Ninja that preceded the Age of the Gods, never mind _the_ Uzumaki Naruto, slayer of the Primordial Goddess of this World."

"Actually, I only sealed her again." Naruto corrected.

"True, but there was only so much time she could remain without her power. She starved within the second stone seal and withered away." Gilgamesh revealed. "That dimension is now known as the Reverse Side of the World."

"I know. I… took a look there recently." Naruto admitted.

"Still, despite your reputation, I shall not allow you to take what is mine." Gilgamesh smirked. "If you wish to claim my Grail, you shall have to _earn it_."

"That was the plan." Naruto smirked back.

Before they could begin fighting, however, Gilgamesh was forced to jump aside as through the gate a massive white-furred being barreled forward.

"You… it was _you_ …" was snarled with utmost hatred.

It was a giant white dog, about twice the size of a rhinoceros, looking quite feral as it glared around with mad crimson eyes.

But it was not the dog that spoke, despite how eye-catching it was. It was the disheveled-looking teenage girl on its back, wearing a tattered black dress. She had long black hair and wild crimson eyes, with a feral expression on her face, her vampire fangs bared for all to see.

" **You did it!?"** She snarked with utmost hatred as she glared at Naruto.

"I did what?" the blond Assassin blinked.

" **I don't know! But you did something to Gaia! You too it away from us, Gaia's support! You took away our regeneration! Because of you, the Dead Apostles are extinct!"** she howled.

"I did?" Naruto blinked before grinning. "Damn, am I awesome or what? I wiped out vampires by accident."

" **You…!"** the girl snarled.

"But, hold on!" Naruto frowned. "If all Dead Apostles are gone, how are you here?"

" **I am half True Ancestor hence I managed to survive and regenerate from the loos of my Dead Apostle side. And I'm going to fucking kill you, you piece of human filth!"** she declared.

"Really?" Naruto raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Naruto, be careful!" Rin hissed from somewhere behind him. "The only half Dead Apostle half True Ancestor I know of is Altrouge Brunestud, and the large dog associated with her is Primate Murder, the Beast of Gaia!"

"The Beast of Gaia, eh?" Naruto's eyes narrowed at the wild-looking dog. "Reminds me of…"

" _ **Hey!"**_ the Bijuu within him protested.

"If that's the case, I will have to go all out." Naruto smirked as he brought his hands together with a clap that sent ripples through the very fabric of reality. " **Allied Shinobi Forces Jutsu!"** he roared and in a burst of golden light, the world around them had changed.

Gone was the temple with wrecked gates and the clear night sky. Instead, they were on seemingly endless arid plain full of craters and trenches. And, in the sky above, a red moon glowed ominously.

"A Reality Marble? How quaint." Gilgamesh sniffed.

"You… what the hell are you?" no longer was Altrouge's voice echoing demonically. Instead, it was reduced to a mere whisper as she stared with wide eyes at the red moon above. "Why? Why do you have the Crimson Moon in your Inner World?" she demanded, her voice rising.

"Why not?" Naruto shot back with a confident grin. "I am, after all, not only the descendent of the man who created the Moon, but also the Transmigrant of his chosen Heir. Hell, I'm the descendant and defeater of the alien Goddess who the Moon was created to imprison in the first place."

With every word, the half True Ancestor's already pale face lost more and more color. If what he said was true, then he was much closer to being the Ultimate One of the Moon then either her or Arcueid Brunestud, the last full True Ancestor. After all, unlike them which were potential vessels made from Gaia's power for Crimson Moon Brunestud to reincarnate into, this person shared a direct blood connection to what was likely the original Type-Moon, millennia before Crimson Moon Brunestud came into being.

Still…

"No, you're lying." Altrouge narrowed her eyes. "This is just a fake. If this was the real Crimson Moon, the boost of power I would receive…"

"Ah, but that's where you are very _wrong_." Naruto grinned widely, though the steel in his eyes sharpened. "The reason you are not receiving a boost from the Moon is not due to it being a fake, but rather one of the effects of my Reality Marble."

"…What do you mean?" Altrouge demanded, glancing quickly at Primate Murder to reassure herself. Even cut off from Gaia's power that would boost their abilities, they were still monsters among monsters and this person was expending energy by sustaining the Reality Marble. The longer she kept him talking, the better.

"It was on this battlefield that a bunch of power-hungry fools tried to enslave humanity using the power of the Moon." Naruto began. "And it was here that the power of the Moon was _broken_. Since then, the Moon had no power to influence the fates of mortals. But this, right here? This world is stuck on that final battlefield I fought upon, where I broke the power of the Moon in all ways. Gaia may have foolishly granted the Moon influence on Earth since then, but here, on this battlefield, the Moon's power is broken."

"…" Altrouge scowled. It was not the first Reality Marble he had encountered that that granted the user an advantage over Dead Apostles. Usually, it was by exploiting one of their natural weaknesses, such as certain levels of sunlight and all things holy? But a Reality Marble what utterly negated the Moon's influence even as it hung in the sky in its highest form? Inconceivable. "No matter, even if you negate the advantages granted to me by the Moon, I also have left in me enough essence of my Dead Apostle side to negate the 'power of humanity' that Heroic Spirits like you represent."

"Heh, you think I'm fighting you alone?" Naruto smirked.

"So what of you have the swordswoman to aid you? She is also a Heroic Spirit, same thing." Altrouge scoffed.

"Oh, I did not mean Saber. I meant _them_." Naruto smiled widely.

"Who…?" Altrouge began only to choke as he began to rapidly look at her surroundings.

They were everywhere. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands. Wearing similar outfits with flack jackets of several designs and colors, they all wore the same metal plaque on their person, usually tied to their foreheads. And on that plaque, there was a single symbol: **Shinobi**.

What's worse, a good half a dozen of them radiated at least as much power as some of the lower ranked Dead Apostle Ancestors used to before their extinction… and as much as she did now.

But, beyond everything, it was _them_. Nine beings, possessing the general shape of animals or hybrids, with multiple tails swinging behind them as they towered over everything, each radiating power beyond _anything_ she had ever encountered.

And, the strongest of them, the nine-tailed fox that even she had heard of, if only as supposedly being a fragment of the Shinto Goddess of the Sun, stood right behind her enemy, glaring down at her with slit crimson eyes radiating more malice than any Dead Apostle she had ever met.

"The **Allied Shinobi Forces Jutsu** is when the entire military power of our world was gathered in one place, fighting under a single banner, towards as single goal: to defeat those that would use the power of the Moon to subjugate us. All of them are my trusted comrades, who leant me their power…" Naruto smirked "And I leant them mine!"

With that declaration, reddish-orange power erupted from every single one of the humans called forth by the Reality Marble, and when it settled down somewhat it left them all cloaked that energy, shaped vaguely like a fox. And the same power radiated from both the now grinning nine-tailed fox and her enemy, now wearing a trench coat of golden orange energy with black circles and lines here and there.

And as understanding down, true fear made her freeze. That orange energy that empowered them all… it was not human, not the power of humanity. Rather, she felt the very same power – if only far more diluted and tainted – from within Primate Murder.

They all now possessed the power of Gaia, and the nine tailed beasts among them, they were just like Primate Murder, Beasts of Gaia… only clearly much, _much_ stronger.

Then, as if to single the beginning of her end, a bell-like screech sounded and as she gazed in that direction she saw a ball of swirling white energy, the size of a human body, with four white blades spinning around it, formed in each of her enemy's outstretched hands.

Then, everything exploded into motion. And within a few seconds she knew no more, her attempt to dodge having been prevented by her own shadow rising to hold her down and strangle her, keeping her in place long enough for one of the **Rasenshuriken** to hit and vaporize her.

Primate Murder, on the other hand, was not so easily taken down. Against Altrouge, taking away her Curse of Restoration as a Dead Apostle, cutting her from the support she would have gotten as a True Ancestor from Gaia, and finally utterly negating the power of the Moon-folk on that battlefield had all but crippled. Boosting the power of the manifested humans with non-human power and allowing them to bypass her resistance to the power of humanity was but the coup de grace.

But Primate Murder was a Beast of Gaia. Even when cut off from the planet, it only meant it could not get further support. Even so, it still had enough power on its own that it would take seven of Alaya's Counter Guardians to keep it in check.

As such, even though its opponents had gotten a significant boost in both offense and defense thanks to the Kyubi Chakra Cloaks, it was still ripping them apart at a steady rate, killing hundreds in mere seconds and thousands were dead by the time Altrouge had been killed which only enraged the White Beast further.

Fortunately for Naruto and unfortunately for Primate Murder, it was not the only Beast of Gaia there. What's more, it was not even the stronger among them. Sure, it was fast and near unmatched at killing humans, but Naruto was still faster and power-wise each of the Bijuu were above the White Beast, the already humongous power they had possessed originally having been boosted even further by their own legends to new heights.

Before long, the ninja had stopped fighting and, instead, were simply watching as the Bijuu were smacking Primate Murder around like a ball, much like they did with Madara upon Obito's defeat and their release from the Gedo Mazo.

However, the battle had to come to an end and soon, Naruto knew this very well. When he had manifested his Reality Marble, he had made sure to separate the group. While he and Saber remained to face Altrouge and Primate Murder, he had sent Rin, Illya and Sakura to his Reality Marble's equivalent of Konoha while Gilgamesh was in Suna. And he knew that not only would the King of Heroes be angry at being apparently dismissed and sent away while he dealt with the two beings angry at him for cleansing the world of Gaia's hatred for Humanity – and apparently killing all the Dead Apostles – but he also had the power to shatter his Reality Marble like an egg, just as he did with the one of the Rider from the Fourth Grail War.

So, he had to hurry up and neutralize Primate Murder in such way that his Reality Marble would no longer be necessary.

As such, he had Shukaku pin the White Beast down with his cursed seals and then used the **Rinnegan** 's _**Human Path**_ to find some weakness to exploit in the juggernaut that had ranked as the top Dead Apostle Ancestor since its creation by Gaia. It took him a bit, and with how much it was struggling he feared it would escape, but under the centuries of near mindless bloodshed there were still centuries more of coherent memories, among them being the solution he sought.

Removing his hand, he created a few chakra conductive black rods out of **Truth-Seeking Balls** and stabbed them all over Primate Murder's body before surging as much of his and the Bijuu's chakra through the newly-created connection, all while staring the White Beast in the eye, channeling his power through his **Rinnegan** as he imposed the strongest Genjutsu he could.

There was resistance aplenty, but with nine ancient minds fighting Primate Murder's will alongside his own, he triumphed and bound the White Beast to his will, as a summoned creature that would answer the call of his _**Animal Path**_. It was not as smooth and gentle as when Merlin himself turned Cath Palug, Primate Murder's original name, into his familiar, but then again it had clearly devolved into a near-rabid beast since that time due to Gaia's growing hatred for humanity.

With a thought, he dismissed Primate Murder to the pocket dimension the **Rinnegan** 's summon creatures were stored and regenerated in, and after turning around and giving his surroundings a grateful smile, he ended the manifestation of his Reality Marble, returning the survivors back to Ryuudou Temple.

"Sorry about the interruption, Gilgamesh." Naruto apologized. "Now, where were we?"

"Hmph, at least you realize your rudeness." The King of Heroes scoffed. "I trust the interlopers were sufficiently punished?"

"How does disintegration sound?" Naruto shrugged.

"Satisfactory." Gilgamesh regally inclined his head in approval. "But, as you said, where were we?"

"The final battle of this Grail War!" Naruto replied, power exploding from him as he used **Kyubi Chakra Mode** , **Power of the Gathered Nine** , **Six Paths Senjutsu** and **Rinnegan** simultaneously.

"Well said!" Gilgamesh shot bag, grinning widely as hundreds of golden portals of the **Gate of Babylon** manifested all around him, filling his side of the Temple's courtyard and beginning to unleash their contents, hundreds upon hundreds of powerful treasured weapons, and not the low-grade ones the King of Heroes usually deigned to sacrifice to eliminate the average mongrel, but all were high-grade Noble Phantasms, B rank at the lowest.

" _ **Shinra Tensei!"**_ Naruto roared as he threw a good chunk of his power into the jutsu, unleashing a blast of gravity that would have dwarfed the one Nagato had used to turn all of Konoha into a giant crater.

He was in no real danger himself. With his speed, he could have easily dodged each and every one of those weapons as to him they might a well been moving in slow motion. He could have simply teleported away. Hell, he could have used a massive **Bijuudama** to blow away Gilgamesh and everything the King of Uruk was throwing at him… and most of Fuyuki as well.

The reason he did not, however, was quite simple: Rin, Illya and Sakura were right behind him, as was Saber though the Servant would have survived the onslaught without his aid, if seriously injured. The three fragile humans, one of who was his Master, that he needed to protect. And, for this purpose, the signature jutsu of the _Deva Path_ was perfectly suited.

Impacting into the gravity shield mere meters after exiting the **Gate of Babylon** , the hundreds of Noble Phantasms exploded engulfing a shocked Gilgamesh in their blast waves… before he was blasted away out of the temple proper and into the near-impenetrable barrier around the temple, causing him to scream in agony as he was both being burned at a spiritual level by the barrier and being crushed by the gravity wave that kept pushing into him.

Eventually, everything died down and he dropped to the ground, nearly flattened by what he had been forced to endure but still barely alive.

As such, he was able to crack a crimson eye when he felt the knight at his neck poised to end his life.

"Y-You make… a poor… A-Assassin." Gilgamesh remarked weakly.

"Back in my time, being a Ninja meant you can be an Assassin, not that you had to." Naruto said as with a flick of his wrist the Golden King's throat was slit.

"W-well… cough… done… my…. cough… ancestor…" Gilgamesh praised as he faded away.

Before Naruto could remark, power surged from behind him and as he turned around he saw Illya being engulfed into flames and being vaporized, leaving behind only a floating golden Holy Grail and **Avalon** , the later which dropped to the ground.

A moment later, however, there was another flash of golden light and when it faded Illya was back once more, only naked and with a fading White Sun and Black Moon on either cheek.

"W-What just happened?" Rin asked in shock.

"It's a jutsu that breaches the boundary between reality and illusion. Essentially, I turned the reality that Illya had died during the manifestation of the Holy Grail into a mere illusion. Normally, it would cost me an eye but I had a work-around." Naruto smiled as he glanced down at his palms where the two seals had returned.

"I see… then, I guess this is it." Artoria commented. "You won. Congratulations." She told him.

"Thank you." Naruto smiled as he eyed the Grail. "But, before I make my wish and leave, I have some gifts to give." He appeared between Rin and Saber, grabbing Saber with his right hand and Rin with his left one.

Immediately, they were engulfed in golden and purple light respectively, and when it faded they stumbled slightly even as Naruto stepped way and towards the Grail.

"W-What did you do?" Rin asked in shock even as a circular rift opened in the sky above them, swirling blue energy around the edges.

"For Saber, I gave her a physical body so she would not be as dependent on you for prana and so that she may finaly be able to live." Naruto smiled. "As for you, Rin, look at your arm."

"This is… a Magic Crest?" Rin stared in shock.

"It contains all of Cu Chulainn's Rune Magic, Medea's Divine Magic and as much as I could safely give of my own knowledge of the **Kaleidoscope** that I was able to pull from Akasha through the Grail System. It's not everything, but it should give you a good head start into becoming a Magician."

"…Thank you." Rin whispered in shock.

"You ready to go, girls?" Naruto now focused on Illya and Sakura, the later whom had given the former her jacket to cover herself. He received firm nods from both.

"Go? Go where?" Rin demanded.

"Reincarnation, a second chance at life in a better world." Naruto replied.

"…I see." Rin gave Sakura a sad smile. "I wish you three the best, then. Good luck."

With nod, Naruto reached out and grasped the Grail which instantly read the wish at the forefront of his mind. The three of them instantly became energy and shot into the sky, becoming streaks of black, white and gold as the went through the rift in the sky that closed after them, disappearing from this world.

 **A.N.: And done. A short little story, all in all. Something I've written a while back and only just recovered the files of. As you may have noticed, it can act as a prequel for a story in the Naruto Universe, where Sakura is a Nara and Illya is… either an Uchiha or a Yuhi, albino in either case.**

 **I won't be writing that story, unfortunately, but whoever feels up to the challenge is free to do so.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this fic.**

 **Naruto Stats:**

 **Spirit: Uzumaki Naruto**

 **Master: Tohsaka Rin**

 **Class: Assassin / Caster**

 **Alignment: Chaotic Good**

 **Attribute: Heaven**

 **Strength: A++**

 **Mana: EX**

 **Endurance: A++**

 **Luck: A++**

 **Agility: A++**

 **Noble Phantasm: EX**

 **Class skills:**

 **Item Construction: EX**

 **Territory Creation: B**

 **Presence Concealment: A+**

 **Independent Action: A+**

 **Personal skills:**

 **Ninshu: EX**

 **Ninjutsu: EX**

 **Taijutsu: A**

 **Fuinjutsu: EX**

 **Bukijutsu: B**

 **Toad Senjutsu: A++**

 **Kawazu Kumite: A+**

 **Uzumaki Genetics: A**

 **Asura Transmigrant: A+**

 **Divinity: A**

 **Godslayer: A**

 **Golden Rule: B**

 **Subversive Activities: A**

 **Espionage: A**

 **Eye of the Mind (True): B**

 **Shapeshift: A**

 **Magic Resistance: A+**

 **Summoning: A++**

 **Battle Continuation: EX**

 **Bravery: A++**

 **Charisma: A**

 **Enlightenment of the Sacred Fig: EX**

 **Pioneer of the Stars: EX**

 **Projectile (Kunai and Shuriken): B**

 **Negative Emotion Sensing: A+**

 **Unyielding Will: A**

 **Ultimate One(Fake): A**

 **Wisdom of Divine Gift: A**

 **Double Summon: A**

 **Noble Phantasms:**

 **Kyubi Jinchuriki [Anti-Unit(Self)]: B**

 **Kage Bunshin [Anti-Unit; Anti-Army]: B~A+**

 **Rasengan [Anti-Unit]: A~A+++**

 **Rasenshuriken [Anti-Unit; Anti-Fortress]: EX**

 **Bijuudama [Anti-Unit; Anti-Fortress; Anti-Army]: A~EX**

 **Jinchuriki Form 1: Chakra Cloak [Anti-Unit(Self)]: B~A++**

 **Jinchuriki Form 2: Blood Shroud [Anti-Unit(Self)]: A~A+++**

 **Kyubi Chakra Mode [Anti-Unit(Self)]: EX**

 **Tailed Beast Mode: Kurama [Anti-Unit(Self)]: EX**

 **Nine Tailed Fox: Kurama [Anti-Fortress; Anti-Army; Anti-Country]: EX**

 **Power of the Gathered Nine [Anti-Unit(Self)]: EX**

 **Six Paths Senjutsu [Anti-Unit(Self)]: EX**

 **Six Paths Yang Power [Anti-Unit ]: EX**

 **Six Paths Yin Power [Anti-Unit]: EX**

 **Six Paths - Chibaku Tensei [Anti-Unit; Anti-World]: EX**

 **Rinnegan [Anti-Unit; Anti-Army; Anti-Fortress]: EX**

 **Six Paths: Ultra-Big Ball Rasenshuriken [Anti-Fortress; Anti-Army; Anti-World]: EX**

 **Reality Marble: Allied Shinobi Forces Jutsu [Anti-Army; Anti-World]: EX**


End file.
